Wings of Hope and Solace
by OreganoTypeOmega
Summary: AU - Humanity can finally live a carefree life without the threat of the Titans - but are they really safe? When Lucy crash-lands in front of Wall Sina, no one knows how much her help will truly be needed... Eren soon becomes interested in this strange girl, his interest slowly growing stronger as well as his feelings for her... - Possible love triangles and SAD romance included.
1. Chapter 1: An Unexspected Visitor

**Wings of Hope and Solace**

_**Very long (!) A/N: This is totally AU.**_

_**Okay, first of all, of course I do not own Soul Eater or Attack on Titan – both series belong to their rightful owners – except Lucy, she belongs to me xD.**_

_**This story will take many references, some will be obvious, some subtle – can you find them all? xD If yes, write it in a review! And of course, if you see them I do not own them either.**_

_**SPOILER ALERT: It may contain some minor or major spoilers from Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan, Soul Eater and Soul Eater Not!. Also will there be non-canonical stuff, so don't be confused when some parts may not fit to the main stories. **_

_**(Note: If you want to start with the story, just skip the text below xD)!**_

_**I'll have to explain some stuff, so that you won't get confused. Humanity has defeated the Titans, the Titan Shifters Annie, Bertolt, Reiner and Ymir have fought on humanity's side ot defeat the Titans. No Wall Maria, no Wall Rose, Wall Sina and its districts are something like a capital for this new world and the Military Police controls amost everything, Death City is an autonomous city and not controlled by the MP, mankind lives an almost normal life now. The Survey Corps has only a few members left and they have their HQ separately in Death City, since they are practically not necessary anymore, but they stay alert since they are sure there is another threat lurking in the shadows... As for Shibusen/DWMA, its purpose is not only to train Meisters and Weapons, but was/is also the training ground for the Survey Corps.**_

_**Well, I think that's it for now. Now, please enjoy! About the strange pairing: Trust me, it will make sense later on xD  
**_

**Chapter 1: An Unexpected Visitor**

It felt like time was suddenly coming to a stop when the sky was illuminated by a yellow lightning bolt – the kind of lightning everyone feared so much. They knew it so well... But this was impossible! It couldn't be!

"Don't go outside! Lock the gates! We need reinforcements here! Call the Survey Corps! We need Captain Levi!" one of the members of the Garrison, who had just witnessed the lightning from close-up, shouted. He couldn't see anything beneath the wall. Whatever it was, it surely was no Titan Shifter... was it?

* * *

She felt as if her whole body had been crushed, but she could tell nothing was broken. She was lying on the ground with her waist down. Her eyes could barely make out where she was. She saw the shell of ice surrounding her body – or what was left of it. The shell must have been broken as an effect of the severe impact. She looked down on herself. Her body was covered in cuts and bruises where the ice had cut her skin upon shattering. She slowly turned her head to her whitish, faintly lilac feathered wings. They were completely tattered and feathers were lying around her.

That surely had been a crash landing. Where the hell was she? She hoped she would not be detected by some unwelcomed guests... She could finally see something. She was lying in a flat crater – most likely caused by her harsh landing – in front of a giant wall. It was one of the walls mankind had created long ago to protect themselves from the Titans. She knew the people living here would surely not welcome her in a friendly way.

She managed to painfully straighten herself up and turned around. She could make out a forest and it was not too far from her position. She decided to use the smoke and dust emerging from the small crater to her advantage as long as it was possible.

And so she slowly stood up, every inch of her body hurting, and started walking.

* * *

"The hell... What is it?" The Lance Corporal's voice sounded annoyed, like he already knew what this call was all about. "Don't tell me it's about that lightning we just saw..."

"_Yes, sir, it is! So you saw it, too?_" asked the shaking voice at the other end of the line.

"Tch..." Levi snorted. His voice kept the annoyed tone to it. "How could someone have not seen it?!"

"_Indeed. This time it was much brighter than it was when one of those Titan Shifters transformed. We've come to the conclusion that it was not one of them._"

"And why is that?" Levi's voice was now shaking with impatience.

"_There is no Titan body to be seen and some of the guards say they saw something fall on the ground, like it fell from the sky_," the member of the Garrison said.

"What was that?" Levi's dark grey gaze narrowed.

The conversation did not go on for much longer. Levi was partly annoyed, but also curious about what he had just heard. He knew very well it was the duty of the Survey Corps to do such investigations – especially since that _thing_, whatever it was, was _in front of_ and not _within_ the walls. Even though he believed the Garrison members were simply cowards who didn't want to get their hands dirty. He called the available half of his unit – consisting of Eren Jaeger, Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackerman, Jean Kirstein, Annie Leonhart, Sasha Blouse, Connie Springer, Ymir, Krista Lenz, Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover – and sent them out.

"What do you think is going on, Eren?" Armin asked his best friend. His blue orbs were wide with uneasiness and he shifted nervously.

"I don't know... But don't worry. We'll get out there safely. We defeated the Titans," Eren assured the nervous blond, putting a hand on said boy's shoulder and squeezing it comfortingly.

Armin managed a smile, but Eren knew he couldn't shake the uneasiness that caused Armin's small frame to shudder. In fact, he wasn't really sure what to think of the current situation.

* * *

When the reinforcements arrived, she had already reached the forest and collapsed near a big tree. Her body was still too weak and hurt too much. She would soon have to heal herself – but she had to wait until it was safe since her powers could be detected.

_I must hide from them_, she thought. _They mustn't find me... They'll kill me if they do..._

Those were her last thoughts before she passed out...

* * *

Meanwhile, the Survey Corps had arrived at Wall Sina. They were quickly directed to the lightning's point of impact and left to further investigate the small crater that had been hammered in the ground.

Levi got off his black horse and approached the rather flat whole in the ground. He guided his dark grey eyes across the shattered surface until he cought sight of something. He bent down and looked more closely.

There were feathers scattered everywhere. Feathers and... ice? _Where the hell did that stuff come from?_, Levi thought to himself as he straightened himself up, his gaze following the small, subtle trail of blood leading in the near forest's direction.

"Captain Levi, sir?" Eren asked while taking a few steps towards his superior.

"Whatever it was, it's headed towards the forest. Group up in small searching parties and spread out! Use Maneuver Gear whenever you need to! Eren and Jean, I entrust you with the leading of your squad. Work together!" Levi shouted while climbing the back of his horse again.

"Where are you going, sir?" Jean and Eren asked simultaneously. They cast each other a short glare before turning their attention back to Levi who was obviously not planning to stay with his unit.

"I have been called to the base. Be careful, it could be dangerous. If it is, don't forget to do your damnedest to alive, understood?" he shouted, not waiting for an answer, as he rode off. _What do those Military Police freaks want from me?_, he thought, though he believed he already knew the answer.

"Okay, Jean, it's up to us now. We need to split up." Eren looked a bit annoyed; he always waited for his arch rival to try and provoke him, but for some reason he never did so. Maybe he was willing to accept Eren for now. Eren offered his hand to him. "We work as a team."

Jean looked at him weirdly, obviously confused by Eren's gesture, but then cast a small smile towards him and shook his outstretched hand. "We work as a team."

"So we have to do what those two morons say? The hell..." Ymir snorted.

"Ymir, please..." Krista begged.

"Bear with it," Bertolt said. "I'm fine with that."

"Yeah, me too," Reiner replied.

"Me too." Annie was normally quiet, but Eren knew she respected him and Jean deeply.

"Yeah, bear with it!" Connie was glaring at Ymir.

"Who talked to you, maggot?" Ymir snapped back.

Eren and Jean cast Ymir a venomous glare. Then they looked at each other again and nodded before shouting instructions towards the others. A few minutes later, they were scouting through the outskirts of the forest.

* * *

She woke up as she heard voices and sounds of approaching people, but her body hurt too much to for her to move. What could she do? She had to stand up, there was no way. She clenched her teeth as the burning pain shot through her whole body while she successfully tried to slowly stand up and lean against the tree beside her.

She saw figures running through the woods and slowly, quietly, made her way around the tree, ducking behind the bushes, careful to not make any sudden movements or loud sounds. Then she readied herself.

"_Wavelength of Redemption_," she whispered as her left eye started to glow and initiated the healing process.

* * *

Eren stopped all of a sudden, making Armin bump into him from behind. He didn't know why he suddenly felt the urge to walk back to the trees behind him or why he made the following action. It was like a reflex. He glanced back at Armin and brought a finger to his lips. Armin looked at him, confused, but nodded and stood still. Eren listened, but he couldn't hear anything suspicious. He motioned for Armin to stay where he was. He slowly approached the bushes in front of him and began having a strange feeling – it was almost as if someone was there... He readied himself to capture them, whoever it was...

She started to panic as she could feel someone near her. As a result she lost her concentration and didn't have time to finish her healing. Just as her eye stopped glowing someone jumped through the bushes, landing right next to her. She toppled backwards, landing flat on her ass, and looked up. In front of her stood a tall and slender boy with beautiful sea-green eyes and brunette messy hair. But even his friendly appearance could not calm her down – on the contrary, he made her feel uneasy, causing her body to start shaking.

Eren stared at the girl in front of him weirdly, his turquoise eyes wide with surprise. Even though her body was covered in cuts and bruises and the wings protruding from her shoulder blades were tattered, her appearance still stunned him. She was beautiful: She had dark brown, chest-long hair which was tied to a pair of loose twintails with long bangs and some stray tendrils framing her face, dark brown eyes and pale brown skin, almost like his own tan one. Her facial expressions were soft and gentle, though they were currently distorted with fear. She was wearing nothing but a short black triangle-shaped neckholder top, revealing her slender waist and flat stomach with slight hints of her tender abs, a pair of black short pants with a white belt, showing her slender, yet well-trained legs, and knee-high black boots.

The two of them simply stared at each other for a while without making any movements. When the uneasiness and silence became too much for the dark brunette, causing said girl to shift nervously, Eren finally snapped out of his thoughts. He took a few careful steps towards the girl.

"Hey... Are you alright?" he asked in a soft voice while reaching out for her. "Armin!" he called, jerking his head around. "I found her! Call the others!"

"Okay, Eren! Stay where you are!" a voice called from afar.

She watched him suspiciously when he slowly and carefully squatted down beside her. When his hand nearly touched her she gasped and hastily backed up. She watched the boy's eyes grow wide with understanding as he halted in his movement.

"Oh no, it's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you. Calm down. I just..." he started.

She struggled to get away from him and used what was left of her strength to stand up and run as fast as she could. Her partial healing proved at least a bit useful, even though she hobbled.

"No, wait, come back! I won't hurt you!" Eren ran after the girl.

She did not turn around. When she was sure she was out of sight she jumped behind a tree near her. Just in time. The brunet stormed by, merely a second after she had hidden. Eren stopped. She was near.

"I know you're here." That statement made the girl flinch. "I will find you, no matter how much you try to hide. I can sense your presence."

She lifted her head. _Is that possible?_

Eren let out a loud sigh. "Hey, you. Listen, I'm only trying to help you. I don't want to hurt you. Come out."

She shook her head although she knew he could not see it. When he didn't look in her direction she quietly retreated, but stopped when she felt something... There was something behind her... She turned her head and looked at the dark spot between the trees. At first, she didn't see anything – but something was there... She took a few steps closer and stopped again when she heard a small growling sound. Then she saw them: a pair of blank, glowing red eyes. She didn't have to reason to whom or what those eyes belonged. She simply started to run just as the monster jumped out ouf its hiding spot.

Eren turned around as soon as he heard the scream. The girl was running in the direction opposite to him. At first he wondered what had gotten into her, but his question was quickly answered when he saw that she was being pursued by...

"Where the fuck did that thing come from?!" Eren shouted. He could see Armin running towards him.

"Eren! What happened! Did you see that?! That's not possible! We defeated them, didn't we?!"

"Armin, tell the others to get ready! Something is coming towards them! I'll follow the girl!" With that being said, Eren used his Maneuver Gear to disappear through the woods.

He arrived just in time. He swung himself onto the tree closest to the girl. She had tripped over a root and was now lying on the ground before the Evil Titan. The monster's tongue darted out to lick its lips and saliva was dripping down on the ground. It was a large and thin figure, with overly long limbs and a body covered in loose bandages. Evil Titans were demonic versions of Titans, created through the eating of souls, be it good ones or evil ones - eating souls had a different effect on Titans than on humans or human weapons and turned them basically into a much weaker version of a Kishin; nonetheless, they were dangerous beings, since they were actually intelligent and quite adaptive to any situation.

She didn't know what to do. Her wings were still unusable and her body was not completely healed yet. She heard a thud as someone landed near her. When she looked up, she recognized the boy from earlier. She started to panic again, but before she could react, the boy grabbed her by the waist and draped her over his shoulder. She was surprised by the strength residing in his rather delicate, only slightly muscular body. She felt herself being dragged onto a thick branch of the nearest tree. She cast him a puzzled look and made a small "huh", staring into his sea-green eyes as he gently sat her down.

It didn't take long for her to feel fear rise in her once more and she backed up from the boy who was again trying to calm her down. "Please, you have to believe me, I'm only trying to help you! I don't..."

Before he could finish his sentence the Evil Titan knocked its body against their tree, shaking it and causing Eren to loose his balance. He barely managed to hold onto the branch and was forced to let go when the monster knocked its body against the stem of the tree again. As he fell, he fired his grapples at the next tree to brake his fall before he finally crashed into the bushes.

The girl watched in horror as the monster shortly turned its attention to the brunet when another person entered the scene. It was a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Eren!" he called, his blue orbs widened with fear.

She had to do something. Even though she didn't know if she could trust those people who were looking for her, she knew she had to help. It was her fault that this Evil Titan had shown up, she knew it. Her body was not completely healed - but it had to be sufficient for now. She quickly took action without much thinking: She slightly shifted her belt to reveal a pair of grappling hooks on either side of her belt, just like the ones the Survey Corps used; her foster father had provided her with those, in case her wings would give up – she had never thought she would need them so badly. She fired the hooks at the stem of the tree and swung herself onto the ground.

"Hey! Over here!" she shouted angrily at the demonic Titan, waving her hand towards it. Her brows were furrowed and she gave the monster a death glare.

Eren's eyes widened at the new and gentle voice and he lifted his head. "What the hell is she doing?!" he wondered, staring at the girl who seemed to have gained some resolve. "Does she want to fight it?! Alone?!" He tried to get up, but his body hurt from the impact earlier.

Suddenly the side of her arm started to glow and something slowly emerged from it.

"What is that?! What is she doing?! I-Is that... magic?!" Armin asked uneasily.

Eren finally realized what was happening. "She is a weapon?!" he shouted, staring at the long, slender blade now protruding from the length of her right arm. What was she?

"She's a halberd!" Armin recognized. "Or... a scythe?... No... She's both! She's halberd _and_ scythe!"

"How do you know? Is that even possible?"

"I recognize the blade! I've seen a similar human weapon before!"

Eren and Armin stared at the girl and the Titan. At first, nothing happened. Then the demonic Titan shifted and jerked forward, towards the girl. But she was fast – too fast. She jumped when the beast almost reached her, flic-flacking backwards and landing on the ground as softly as a feather, as the Titan slammed onto the ground with his face down. It quickly straightened itself up with a furious screech. The bandages covering its body shifted and darted towards the girl, pointing their sharp ends and lashing at her like giant whips.

She had seen this before and quickly took action. She skillfully spun and twirled herself around, jumping and whipping out with her arms and legs while multiple blades emerged from them before disappearing just as fast as they had appeared. Her strikes were too fast for the Evil Titan to regenerate its extended bandages and it stormed forward. She had to do something else. Her body was still weak and that giant demon was maybe a weaker one, but rather fast and surely had a lot more stamina than she had. She could already feel her strength drain rather quickly – she had to hurry up.

Eren and Armin watched as the girl dodged the attacks and lept high in the air. She made a movement that looked much like a fighting stance. The two boys watched her closely, their mouths dropping when she twirled her body towards the Evil Titan, slashing at the beast's eyes with the blades on her arm upon impact, blinding it.

"Have you seen that?! She did it like Captain Levi!" Armin shouted.

When the monster screeched in pain and fury, the girl fired her hooks at the nearest tree she could find in means of retreat, but the Titan blindly lashed out with its hands and hit her back harshly. She lost her balance just as she pulled the grapples in and painfully crashed onto the ground. Again, burning pain shot through every inch of her body and the blade on her arm started glowing before dissolving into particles and finally disappearing.

_Why me?!_, she thought angrily as she lay on the ground with the Evil Titan, which had obviously regained its composure, slowly approaching her. It was blind at the moment, but those beasts had an outstanding sense of hearing.

"Armin, we have to do something!" Eren shouted, watching the injured girl slowly being cornered.

"But what?" Armin returned, panicking.

"I have an idea – but you will have to trust me, Armin." Eren put his hands on the nervously gulping blond's shoulders. "Go make some noise. You have to distract the Titan from the girl and me. I will sneak up on it from behind and then cut the fucking beast's neck, okay?"

Armin looked at him, his blue orbs wide, his body shaking and he backed up.

"Armin, you can trust me. I would never send you into danger if I wasn't sure whether I can save you. Please trust me," Eren said, looking deep into his eyes.

Armin finally nodded. "Okay... I'll do it..."

Armin jumped out front and started yelling at the Evil Titan. "Hey! Over here! I bet you can't get me! Try me!" he yelled, quickly changing directions as the monster turned around rather confusedly, hearing the blond's voice from seemingly everywhere and losing the girl's position, just as intended.

Eren took his chance. He fired the hooks at the Titan and swung himself to it. He readied his blades and... sliced the beast's neck in one clean cut. The giant demonic being grew silent and stood still for a moment, before it finally fell onto the ground with a loud thud, causing the ground to shake heavily. Its body then dissolved into black dust, leaving a small red glowing sphere behind – its soul.

She had watched the two boys fighting. Now that the danger was eliminated she tried to stand up, but her knees were wobbly. They finally gave in, causing her to fall on all fours before she let herself drop on her waist. She panted heavily; she had used the last bit of her current strength.

Eren and Armin stared at her anxiously and then at each other.

Eren gave Armin a pat on his back. "See? I said you can do it."

Armin gave him a relieved smile.

Eren watched the girl who was still lying on the ground. "We have to get her outta here," he spoke. "Find the others. Tell them we meet at the wall and then come back here with my horse, okay? But be careful! Take the route through the bushes, so you won't be seen in case another one of those shows up!" Armin nodded and disappeared in the woods.

Eren slowly walked towards the girl who was obviously in shock. She was shaking and panting and her face suddenly looked so pale. Her hair was now messy, with loose strands sticking tightly to her sweat-soaked face. He slowly and quietly squatted down beside her, careful not to scare her again. However, when she noticed someone sitting beside her she propped herself up and jerked her head up to look at Eren, her eyes growing wide.

She didn't know what exactly it was that made her so afraid of this actually friendly-looking boy – there was something strange about him. Something she could not determine; it was like some kind of an aura... Whatever it was, it caused her to back up once more. The boy pulled his hand back.

"It's okay. Don't be afraid. I'm not gonna hurt you. I want to help you," he said softly, smiling warmly at her. "I will get you outta here. Please trust me."

She looked into his teal eyes for any falsehoods, but she couldn't find anything evil in this boy's face. Why was she so afraid then? Why did she feel panic rise inside her heart by merely looking at this boy? She pondered on the possibilities, but her thoughts were cut off when she suddenly heard a voice inside her head that definitely wasn't her own.

_Come on... Please trust me... Why is she so afraid of me? I only want to help her..._

It took a moment for her to realize that these were the thoughts of the brunet. His thoughts were racing. She had accidentally read his mind. After hearing his thoughts she felt herself involuntarily relaxing - even if it was only a bit.

"Eren! It took me some time, but I found the others! They weren't really fond of the idea of leaving us here, but they agreed - they will be waiting at the wall!" the blond from earlier shouted, coming closer with two horses in tow.

"Roger!" The brunet – Eren – looked at her. "What's your name?" he asked, still smiling softly.

She hesitated.

"It's okay. You can tell us."

"Lucy..." she stammered. She decided not to tell them her full name – it was safer. Although her voice was rather quiet she talked clearly.

"So it's Lucy, then. This is Armin. Armin Arlert. My best friend." He pointed towards the blond who cast her a warm smile and came closer to shake hands with her.

Lucy felt not nearly as uneasy in his presence as in the other boy's. She looked at the brunet again who held out his hand as well.

"I'm Eren. Eren Jaeger." His smile never wavered.

It took a moment for Lucy to brave her fear, but she succeeded. Her hand trembled when she shook hands with the brunet named Eren. _Finally_, she heard him think. _She seems to understand__..._ He seemed somewhat relieved about the fact that she at least understood that he was not out to harm her.

"Okay, listen. I know it's hard for you, but right now you have to trust me. We'll take you to Captain Levi. He will help you. He'll know what to do. Armin, help me pull her to her feet."

Armin moved to Lucy's right side while Eren supported her left. Together they carefully pulled her up and supported her by gently draping her arms around their shoulders. It was not as simple – both boys were a few inches taller than her. When standing upright, Lucy's head should perfectly reach Eren's chin.

"Let's get her on the horse."

Lucy was happy to have walking support; her knees would have given in for sure. The two boys stopped in front of the horses. Eren turned to face Lucy and reached out for her, causing her to immediately flinch and back up. She almost fell, but Armin kept her steady.

"You don't have be so jumpy," Eren laughed at the startled look in her eyes.

Upon seeing the suspicious look in her eyes he sighed heavily. He climbed the horse first and asked Armin to help her while holding out his own hand for her to grab. After a moment of hesitation she did so and felt herself being lifted onto the horse by Eren and Armin; the latter had grabbed her by the waist. She was now sitting behind Eren, but she tried to avoid any physical contact with him.

"Please hold on. You'll be safe with me - I promise," he said honestly, his voice with a gentle tone to it.

Lucy obeyed, though not whole-heartedly. She carefully touched his back with her trembling hands, slowly guiding her soft hands around his slender waist in order to finally wrap her arms around it. She flinched when she suddenly felt his abdominal muscles tensing as he held back a small laugh. She looked at him with a startled and puzzled expression on her face when he turned his head toward her.

"Don't do that. I'm ticklish," he chuckled.

She looked down. "I'm sorry..."

"Oh no, it's okay. I'm just saying."

Armin had climbed his horse as well and came closer to the both of them. He held out his hand toward Lucy – he was holding the soul of the Evil Titan.

"Here. You saved us, so it's yours." He smiled at her.

Lucy shook her head. "No, in the end you saved me. Keep it."

"Armin's right. If you hadn't reacted so fast and distracted the Evil Titan it surely would have gotten to us." Eren turned his head to face her again. "You could have just stayed on the tree, but instead you chose to help us. We can't even collect souls. Take it – you deserved it."

Lucy finally gave in. She reached into the neckline of her shirt and pulled out a cross-shaped platinum pendant with a icy purple gem in its center which was hanging from a choker around her neck. She held the cross close to the red sphere. With a quiet sound and a small burst of light the soul was sucked inside the amulet's gem. She gave Armin a puzzled look, who was staring at her in amazement.

"Alright! Let's go!" Eren spurred his horse and the three of them rode off.

Lucy's eyes widened when she understood. She could hear his voice in her head again, but this time it was different. Images flashed through her head - images of a crying boy that looked like Eren's younger self, images of a Titan eating a woman before the boy's eyes, images of Titans eating his comrades. _I will kill them... I will kill every single one of them! I will exterminate the Titans! I will kill those fucking beasts!... I will join the Survey Corps... I want to join the Survey Corps and kill all the Titans, sir!_ She felt his feelings, his sadness, hatred and anger, rushing into her. The last image she saw was that of Eren standing in front of one of the three giant walls and laughing. _We defeated them! We defeated the Titans!_

Lucy's eyes flashed with sadness. She understood. So that was why Eren wanted to help her. That was why Eren had saved her from the Titan. She felt herself relaxing once more. Even though she still was afraid of Eren, she felt a bit safer in his presence.

Normally, Lucy couldn't read people's thoughts without putting up the effort to do so - unless they opened up their mind to her. Eren must have been so absorbed in his thoughts that he had involuntarily opened up his mind and given her access to it.

Lucy's thoughts were cut off by Armin's voice.

"I didn't realize the Titan had driven us that far into the forest!" he pointed out.

He was right. Hopefully, they would get out without any trouble.

"We have to get to the others!" Eren replied. "Lucy. We're taking you to our superior, Captain Levi. He sent us out to look for you. He'll know what to do."

"Where do you actually come from?" Armin asked. "Did you land here on purpose?"

"No... It was an accident..." Lucy answered, shifting nervously. "I don't even know why I came here... My memory's hazy..."

"I see... Well, don't worry, we'll take you to safety."

But fate did obviously not intend to make this easy for them. Lucy once again sensed a strange presence. It was coming closer...

"There is something behind us!" she shouted.

Eren and Armin both turned around, their eyes widened in horror. Merely a second later, something jumped out of the trees. "Another one?!" they shouted in unison as they watched the new Evil Titan running towards them on all fours. However, this one was much faster. It reached the three of them quickly – but as they further spurred their horses they noticed something was odd... The Titan did not try to attack them. Instead, it carefully tried to grab Eren's horse – but completely ignored Armin and his horse.

Lucy's eyes grew wide. _It's after me!_, she thought. She had been right all along. She already had thought that when she had noticed that the Evil Titan she had fought earlier had not tried to attack anyone but her. Those creatures were extremly rare and they normally avoided normal humans – _normal_ humans... She shifted on the horse, struggling to stand up.

"What are you doing?! Don't let go!" Eren grabbed her arms which were about to loosen their grips.

"I... have to... do something... I must... help!" Lucy replied, panting and with a determined look in her eyes, though her voice and body were shaking from the pain and weakness she still sustained.

"No! You're too weak! Armin, smoke grenade!"

"Right!"

Armin reached into the bag hanging from the flank of his horse to pull out a flare gun. He raised his hand and fired a red and a green smoke round into the sky.

"Now we have to buy ourselves some time until they reach us!"

* * *

"Dammit – they're taking too long," Levi muttered. "What the hell is going on here?" He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. His squad surely took their time. He could sense that something was off. He stared out the window of the base's office. He still didn't know what the Military Police had called him for - or did he? He could have been with his unit right now... But that was what they wanted, wasn't it? To keep him away from his unit...

"You seem nervous, Levi," Hanji pointed out.

Levi looked at her with his usual bored expression, but he knew there was no denying it – he was worried about his unit. "Something must have happened. They're late. I sent them out over an hour ago. I better check on them," he replied, heading towards the door, but Hanji stopped him.

"Let's just wait another few minutes until the guards down there are gone." Hanji pointed out the window – a few members of the Military Police were standing in the courtyard, talking to each other. "We'll rouse suspicion otherwise."

Levi was silent for a moment, but then nodded. The last thing he needed was the Military Police sticking their noses into his business – which they actually did already. Of course. For what other reason would they have called _him_ to retrieve whatever had landed in front of the wall? They wanted _them_...

"Levi?"

"Hm?" He turned to face his old friend who was normally outgoing and crazy, always with a smile in her face – but today she seemed troubled as well. "What?" he asked again, encouraging her to go on.

"What do you think they're planning?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is, I will find out – and put another spoke in their wheel..." Levi clenched his fist.

It was a person that had fallen from the sky, he was sure about that fact. He had an idea – but he rather kept the thought to himself. If his suspicion proved right he knew he would have to help them, whoever it was. He couldn't allow the Military Police to get them. He had hoped his unit would get them quickly, but somehow they must have been delayed.

He snapped out of his thoughts when the door was yanked open.

"Captain Levi, sir!" Jean panted, quickly saluting his superior.

"Oi, calm down. What happened?" Levi said.

Jean nodded and took a few deep breaths before continuing. "A red and green smoke round have been fired from the forest!"

Levi stared at him. "What?!"

"We suppose it's from Eren and Armin. We lost them in the forest and later Armin told us to meet them at the wall, but something must have interfered with their plans."

"Hanji, we're heading out _now_! I need a distraction for those guards down there." Levi said, looking at Hanji with an expecting expression.

"Roger!" Hanji clapped her hands. "Leave this to me!" She stormed out.

"Get going." Levi said while roughly shoving Jean out of the office and heading towards the near stables to get his horse.

* * *

"They answered! They returned the signal! They're coming!" Armin yelled happily.

"It's not over! We still need time!" Eren once again dodged the grabbing hand of the Evil Titan. "Don't worry! I will not let it get you!" he assured Lucy.

Suddenly, the Titan stopped, falling back as they went on, and crouched on his fours. Lucy knew what would happen next. "Dodge!" she shouted, causing Eren and Armin to jerk their heads around, as she prepared a counter attack, concentrating to bundle her soul wavelengths.

Eren felt a sudden burst of warmth radiating throughout his whole body, caused by Lucy's soul wavelengths, and watched said girl curiously and fascinatedly, guiding his eyes from her to the Evil Titan.

The demonic being shifted, leaping forward, extending the loose ends of the bandages covering its body to the three of them and trying to get hold of Eren's horse once more. Lucy stretched out her arm, waiting a few moments, before finally waving it in one quick movement. A thin streak of bright light shortly illuminated the air and faded again. The bandages that had almost reached Eren, Lucy and Armin were now completely cut off – but this was not the only thing Lucy had managed to do: the Titan was now standing still, blood trickling from its eyes onto the ground.

"She blinded it!" Armin realized, a content smile spreading across his face.

"Whoa! That was good aiming!" Eren smirked at the sight of the bleeding Titan. He despised those beasts so much – just as he despised himself for his ability to turn into one of them...

Their moment of relieve didn't last too long as another giant being jumped through the trees.

"WHAT?!" the three yelled simultaneously.

Right on cue, Lucy heard the rather familiar sound of thundering hooves...

"They're here! The others are here!" Eren shouted.

Lucy saw figures on horses storming towards them.

They were lead by a man with raven black hair. "Stay back, all of you!" he demanded, flinging himself off his horse and towards the Titans. He was fast. Lucy did not even have time to reason what was happening as the man swung himself – no... _flew_ – towards the two giant beings, spinning his body around with his drawn blades and slicing both Titan's necks in one, quick fluent movement, before landing on the ground, as softly as a feather. He surely was Captain Levi, Eren's and Armin's superior.

Levi looked down at his bloody hand and snorted disgustedly. "Tch... It got all filthy again." He pulled out a handkerchief and cleaned it. The figures Lucy had seen earlier were now standing next to the short ravenette man.

Levi looked around the group of his unit, resting his gaze on Eren and Armin. "You alright?" he asked bluntly, though one could hear the soft concern in his voice. He cared about his soldiers.

Eren and Armin nodded in agreement and gave him a quick salute. "Yes, Captain Levi, sir."

A ravenette young woman ran towards Eren who still sat on the back of his horse and grabbed his hands. "Eren, are you alright?"

"I just said yes, Mikasa." Eren sounded annoyed.

"Why didn't you retreat when you had the chance?!" she demanded.

Eren striped her hands off of him. "How many times do I have to tell you?! I'm not you baby brother or your child! You don't have to play babysitter for me!" he shouted angrily.

Lucy felt her panic rise again. What did those people want from her? She considered escaping, but it was no use. It would have been possible if her wings had worked properly or if her body had been completely healed. She shifted nervously, releasing her grip on Eren's waist.

Levi guided his sharp, intimidating dark grey eyes away from Eren's face, stopping to look at the girl sitting behind said boy. "So you are the reason I had my squad nearly killed for? Tch..." he snorted coldly, looking up and down her barely clothed figure. "Hurry up, we need to get her outta here before more of them show up!"

She struggled to get off Eren's horse, away from Eren, away from this man called Levi, away from all those people watching her closely with their hungry eyes. She would not let them get her. But her body had already reached its limit and could not hold its own weight anymore, resulting in her falling off the horse and painfully crashing onto the ground. She heard muffled voices as everything around her went black and her senses slowly gave in...

"Lucy!" Eren quickly got off as well, squatting down beside her and gently touching her shoulder. "Oh no..."

"She's completely exhausted." Armin squatted down beside Eren, checking Lucy's pulse. "No wonder... after all that happened..." he added quietly.

Levi looked at the boys. "You will tell me what happened later. I will keep an eye on her for now. She will be riding with me. We have to leave before more of those disgusting beasts show up. All of you, get on your horses!"

Eren cast Lucy a worried look, but gave her a relieved smile as she slightly opened her eyes. She flinched a bit when his hand touched her shoulder again. "Don't worry. You're safe now," she heard him say softly before she finally passed out...

_**A/N: Phew, that was a rather long one... It took me almost two weeks to write it in a way I was happy with. I hope you enjoy reading it just as I enjoyed writing it. I already took some references to other animes or stories in this very first chapter – have you found them? I think I already wrote it in the beginning, but the strange pairing will be explained later in the story.**  
_


	2. Chapter 2: A Crucial Decision

**Chapter 2: A Crucial Decision**

**__****A/N: This chapter is almost as long as the first one and Lucy is not in it at all; however, it reveals some important information about her... She will be in the next chapter again. Well, lot of Eren and Levi in this chapter xD You will notice there are some timeskips and flashbacks here. I can already tell, the next chapter will be significantly shorter and soon be uploaded, so just hang in there.**

Levi looked at the files Hanji had provided him with. So he had been right. The Military Police was, in fact, after the girl. They already knew too much about her. He would have to think of a plan to prevent them from getting their hands on her.

_What are those bastards planning? What do they want with the girl?_ he wondered, balling his hand into a fist.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the gentle knock at his office door.

"State your name and business," he said.

"It's Eren and Armin, sir. You called us to your office."

The comfortingly soft voice of the Titan boy caused him to shortly lift his head. "Come in and close the door behind you."

The two boys quickly saluted their superior upon entering.

"Don't always do that in my presence. It's annoying," Levi replied flatly without looking at them. His gaze still rested thoughtfully on the papers lying in front of him.

The two boys looked at each other confusedly. "Is there something bothering you, Captain Levi?" Eren asked. He'd never seen his superior so thoughtful before, not even after his squad had died – but this time, everything was different.

Levi finally looked up, his piercing gaze resting on Eren. "There is." He pointed to the chairs in front of his desk. "Take a seat. This matter will take some time to discuss."

Again, the boys exchanged a confused look.

"Wasn't my order clear enough?" Levi said in a now sharp and impatient voice.

Eren and Armin flinched. "Yes, sir!" they responded before shyly obeying and sitting on the chairs, quite some inches away from the desk, being careful not to sit too close to Levi who was obviously on edge.

Levi noticed that. "Tch... What is it? Afraid I'll bite you?"

They two boys watched him with a nervous look in their eyes. At the moment, he surely looked like he _wanted_ to bite someone... But they shook their heads firmly and moved closer to his desk.

Levi seemed satisfied. "Good. What will be discussed in my office should also stay in my office," he said as though it was an explanation for his behavior, looking at the door with his gaze narrowed. "Wait here."

He stood up and vanished inside the door behind his office chair – the room behind it turned out to be a small kitchen. When he returned he had three cups and a can of hot tea with him. He set the cups on the table and poured some tea in them. He pushed two of the three cups towards Eren and Armin who both watched him wide-eyed.

"Drink. I told you, this will take some time to discuss. I hope black tea is fine. Sugar is here if you need some." Levi pointed to the small box of sugar cubes beside him.

Eren knew something was wrong – Levi was acting unusual. He hesitantly reached for the box and felt Levi's eyes watching his every move, causing him to pull his hand back again. Levi sighed heavily before he picked up the sugar box and offered it to Eren as said boy did obviously not dare to reach across his desk. Eren reached out and grabbed the box when he suddenly flinched.

His fingers had accidentally touched Levi's surprisingly soft hand.

Levi's eyes widened at the random, yet gentle touch, but he quickly regained his composure and wore his usual bored expression. _Well, that was unexpected..._, he thought to himself.

Eren immediately pulled his hand back. "I'm sorry, sir! Um... uh... I mean, Levi!" he said hastily. _What was that look in his eyes just now?_, he wondered. He was glad Armin hadn't seen that...

"What for? It's okay," Levi replied flatly. When he didn't receive an answer he sighed heavily. "What the fuck is wrong with you, brats? You're acting as though you were afraid of me."

He cocked his eyebrows at the two boys; an action Eren had never seen him doing before. Eren believed he saw something flash in Levi's eyes... Something that looked much like a hint of sadness – but it was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared.

Levi sighed again. "There is no reason for that." His voice turned surprisingly soft. "I'm not going to bite your heads off. We're here to talk about what happened today. I want you to relax. So calm the fuck down."

Eren and Armin looked at each other anxiously. _What's wrong with him? Did something hit his head?_ Eren pondered if his superior was either severely on edge or something was making him _really_ nervous – or both, was there really such a difference? Either way, it was something that made the Corporal loose his concentration on maintaining his normal cold personality, Eren was sure about that fact.

Levi noticed the uneasiness radiating from the boys and rested his now irritated gaze on them. "What is it already?"

"Nothing, sir!" the boys responded, now a bit less tense.

Eren finally grabbed some sugar and poured it into the tea, his thoughts quickly coming back to the touch. _Why am I thinking about this? It was an accident..._

"Um..."

Levi guided his eyes to Armin. "What?"

"Can... can I have some milk?" the blond asked hesitantly.

"Of course." Levi brought him the milk. He watched the two boys as they quietly drank their teas, noticing Eren shifting nervously under his intimidating gaze. Then he sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine. Let's get this over with. Tell me what happened in that forest. I need to know everything." he demanded.

"I found her behind some bushes," Eren began, "and I had Armin waiting and keeping watch before I turned my attention to her. She was completely scared and tried to get away from me as fast as possible. When I next saw her she was running like crazy with an Evil Titan stuck to her heels."

Levi's gaze narrowed.

Eren gave him a confused look. "What is it, sir?"

"You're telling me that Titan showed up without any warning?"

A spark of realization lit up in Eren's turquoise eyes. "Yes, sir. I was trying to help her and dragged her onto a tree, but that beast caused the tree to shake and I fell off. The girl, Lucy, fought the Titan, but was injured in the process. Armin continued to distract it so I could cut its neck," he finished his report.

"Not bad, you brats. Good work." Levi sounded plain, though Eren thought he heard a small hint of pride in his Captain's voice.

Eren and Armin looked at him, casting him a relieved and determined smile. "Thank you, Captain Levi, sir!"

Levi had been watching Eren the entire time with that intense thoughtful look in his eyes. "She fought?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes, sir," Eren replied.

"Stop calling me 'sir', you brats. Both of you. You never do that within Death City's walls, so stop doing it here," Levi said flatly, never breaking eye contact with Eren, causing the latter to nervously look down.

"You were the one who told us to adress you as 'sir' when we're outside Death City, Captain..." Armin mumbled under his breath.

"In public, yes. But between us it's okay to drop this attitude. So stop it. It's annoying."

"Okay..."

"She fought?" Levi asked again.

"Yeah," was Eren's response.

"How?"

"She is a weapon." Armin replied.

Levi guided his gaze towards the blond, causing said boy to shrink in his chair. Levi's gaze softened a bit. Armin had always been shy and he had soon decided to help this boy gain some self-confidence, even if not openly.

_What the hell is going on here?_, Eren wondered. _Why is he asking those questions? What is he up to?_ He couldn't help but feeling anxious for the girl who had risked her own life in order to save his and Armin's life.

Levi sensed Eren's mistrust. "Continue," he said calmly, nodding his head towards Armin.

Armin seemed to feel safer now and straightened himself. "Yes, I think she's a halberd. She partially transformed herself and attacked the Titan. If she hadn't distracted it it could have killed us both. In fact, she saved our lives. But wait..." He seemed to just have noticed something. "Uh, never mind..."

"What?" Levi asked almost softly, encouraging the shy blond to go on.

"There... there was something strange..."

"Go on."

"The Titan was acting like it had been waiting for her. It completely ignored us, but rather followed the girl. Even when Eren fell on the ground – it turned its attention to him for only a short period of time and didn't seem interested in him, but when the girl stepped in, it reacted to her and tried to attack her. The same goes for the Titans that pursued us while we retreated on the horses, though they seemed a bit more careful..." Armin panted heavily. He just noticed that he hadn't breathed while reporting, due to his nervosity.

"Armin!" Eren put a hand on his shoulder.

"Oi, calm down. Take a deep breath before you go on." Levi had a small hint of concern in his voice.

Armin obeyed and calmed himself.

"What do you mean by 'careful'?"

"Well... The first Titan that followed us tried to grab Eren's horse instead of attacking us."

_The Titans had aimed for her_, Levi thought to himself, unaware of Eren thinking exactly the same. _It must have something to do with her powers..._

It was silent for a while until Eren felt the urge to say something. He felt his mistrust towards Levi growing. He had always trusted him, but right now something was off. He wanted to know what was happening. "Levi?"

The ravenette man lifted his gaze to look at Eren. "What?"

Unlike Armin, Eren felt no fear when talking to his superior, so he continued. "You asked us quite specific things..."

"You don't trust me," Levi pointed out.

"Uh, it's not that... It's just..."

"It's okay. I was going to tell you anyway." Levi pushed the files on his desk towards the two boys. "Read them."

Eren and Armin hesitantly leaned forward to take a look at the papers. It was silent for a moment until both boys' jaws dropped.

The first thing they noticed was the photo on the left corner of the piece of paper.

"What the...?!"

"Keep it down, you brats," Levi said sharply, pointing to the door.

"Sorry..."

Disbelievingly, the both of them stared at the girl on the picture looking back at them with a serious, almost anxious expression on her face. A dark brunette with pale brown skin and dark brown, almost black eyes...

"Lucy?!" Eren whispered.

"What's a photo of Lucy doing in that secret file?!" Armin questioned.

"Read," Levi ordered.

The brunet and the blond nodded. Eren reached for the papers and Armin leaned in closer to him. Eren felt Levi watching him and Armin closely while they studied the files.

* * *

_**Name:**__ Luxania Serenity Bellona_

_**Height: **__5' / 153cm_

_**Weight: **__119 lbs / 54kg_

_**Hair color:**__ dark brown_

_**Eye color: **__dark brown  
_

_**Other names: **__Lucy, Halby, Ashwing_

_**Affiliation:**__ the Northwing family_

_**Relationships: **__the Northwing family_

_**Personality: **__quiet, caring, protective, having a sense of justice, gentle and kind-hearted; always trying to dissolve any situation peacefully, but willing to use violence if necessary_

* * *

"Hm," Eren mumbled, "nothing too special, though..." He looked at Armin who shrugged before both of them gave Levi a puzzled look.

Said young man nodded to the papers. "You don't understand, do you? Of course, how could I have expected you two brats to understand what I am talking about?" he said without awaiting an answer from the two boys. "I am talking about the name."

The brunet and the blond looked even more confused, causing Levi to sigh heavily and pointing to the papers.

"Have you ever heard of the Northwing family?" he asked. _Why would they?_, he asked himself.

The boys looked at each other, then back at him and shook their heads. _What's this all about?_ Eren was growing impatient.

"The Northwings are a very powerful family. I know their head including his direct family – all except her."

"You know them personally?!"

"Yes. Vincent Northwing, his demised wife Rachel, their son Justin and even Vincent's new wife Frances. I worked for them before joining the Survey Corps. But I never heard of Vincent having a daughter."

Eren and Armin had listened to Levi with an amazed and interested look in their eyes. They never had heard their superior talk about his early life before. Eren was the first one to snap out of his thoughts.

"So... She must have been hidden, then."

"Maybe. But I think there's more to it. The Northwings are not a normal family."

"What do you mean by that?" Eren replied, impatiently. Levi could sense he was on edge now.

"You only read the first page," Levi spoke. "Read on. There's more."

So the boys obeyed and continued reading...

* * *

_**Additional information:**__ is the adopted daughter of Vincent Northwing and his earlier demised wife, Rachel; capable of transforming herself into a weapon and using other weapons as well, meister and weapon in one_

_**Weapon form:**__ Demon Scythe Halberd / Angelic Scythe Halberd_

_**Power level:**__ unknown  
_

_**Report: **__MP has tried to take the girl into custody due her being a potential danger to other people. However, Vincent Northwing has refused to cooperate and we were trying to solve the situation peacefully. But the next time we showed up, the girl had obviously vanished and was nowhere to be found. Nobleman or not, if Northwing further chooses to lean up against the MP and should put up a fight we will not hesitate to use violence to get the girl. Her power level has yet to be determined, as well as her true origin; this can only be found out in carrying out experiments; some of them may be painful, but it is a necessary sacrifice we need to make in order to protect our fellow citizens._

* * *

Eren jumped up. "They're after her?" he asked, trying to control his voice trembling from his anger.

Levi nodded.

"Not hesitate do use violence... painful experiments... necessary sacrifice..." Armin stammered.

Eren could sense his best friend's uneasiness and shock. He sat back down and put an arm around his shoulder, squeezing him comfortingly and pulling him closer.

"Is... is this what... they're gonna do? They just... they just decide something and... they can do whatever they want? I... I never believed they... they would really..." Armin started to tremble.

"Armin." Levi stood up, walked around the desk and leaned against it, facing Armin and Eren to put a hand on the trembling blond's shoulder. "Calm down," he said softly. "Yes. This is how they do politics. Whatever they say is right. Whatever they do is right. They can twist and change any law to their advantage. And everyone praises them as heroes."

"How could they get all those information?!" Armin's voice cracked, due to his agitation. "They seem to know every detail of her, even her exact personality!"

"Calm down, Armin. Believe me, I would tell you if I knew for sure. But if you ask me, I think someone has been spying on the Northwing family." Levi looked like he wanted to beat someone up, just to calm himself down.

"But why her?! Why do they want her?! And what does that mean, 'power level unknown'?! And what the fuck is a Scythe Halberd?!" Eren nearly screamed, but he managed to control his voice.

"This goes for you, too, Eren - calm down. A Scythe Halberd or a Halberdian Scythe is a halberd with two blades - a long and slender blade on one side which makes it look like a scythe and the normal blade of a halberd on the other. Nothing special," Levi explained. "I really don't know what they would do with her... But there is something else I need to tell you. It's about the Northwings."

Eren stared at him, still pulling Armin close to him.

"The Northwings are a family consisting of angels."

Silence. The two boys stared at their superior with their jaws dropped. At first, Eren thought Levi had made a joke – but when had Levi ever made a joke like _that_?

"Levi, sir?" Armin started.

"What did I tell you before?" the short raven-haired man replied sharply.

"I don't understand." Eren responded. "You can't be serious... can you?" His voice sounded unsure.

"You don't believe me? I told you. Ever wondered where Lucy's wings might come from? 'Angelic Halberd' – isn't this ringing any bells?"

Again, suffocating silence, but the boys' eyes showed at least some understanding.

"Let me explain."

He gave Armin's shoulder a comforting squeeze before he returned to his chair.

"The Northwings and the Rosewings are both angelic families that decided long ago to live among the humans. Both families are connected to each other and were finally forged together when Vincent Northwing married Rachel Rosewing. The clans got their names from their wing colors – whereas the Rosewings are known for their rosy pink wings, the Northwings are known for their icy blue or white wings. Although Rachel's wings were also white as far as I remember..."

He made a break for the two boys to catch up. "Got it so far?"

"Yeah."

"But I think you might have noticed Lucy's wing color, Eren," Levi said.

Eren let his arm slip from Armin's shoulders and pondered on what the Corporal meant, but he tried to recall. "As far as I could see her wings were... white... no, light purple or lilac... I think..."

"Yes. And it's not just a random coincidence." Levi stood up again and leaned beside the two boys, bending down a bit and giving them an icy glare. "What I tell you now is confidential. You better keep it secret or I will kick your asses, understood, you brats? Not a fucking word to fucking anyone, at least not before the trial is over. Those bastards already know too much, so we have to keep any further information away from them."

Eren just stared at him, Armin doing the same.

"Understood, you brats?" Levi repeated, this time in a more threatening tone.

"Yes, Levi!"

"Glad to hear. Now listen carefully..." Levi recalled his last phone call.

* * *

"_Hello?_" the familiar voice of Death the Kid responded at the other end of the line.

"It's me," was Levi's simple response.

Levi knew he could trust Kid. Kid had been the one who got him off the street, away from his old thug life and offered him a new life within Death City's walls by introducing him to the Northwing family, before Levi had finally met Erwin Smith who had shown interest in his abilities and offered him to join the Survey Corps. Levi had always been impressed by how mature Kid was for his young age. Kid had a strong connection to the Northwings because of his father, Lord Death, and therefore could provide him with important information.

A moment of silence before Kid's voice was heard again. "_Levi? Nice to finally hear from you. So you're still not back in Death City, I see?_" He sounded relieved and suspicious at the same time.

"No. Unfortunately." Levi bit his lip; he rarely did that. "But there is something I need your help for."

Kid lowered his voice a bit. "_Have you found anything out yet?_"

"Yes and no. I was right. It was a person. We retrieved her, but now the Military Police is hot on our heels. They're after her." Levi had clenched his fist without noticing. "And, Kid?"

"_What is it?_"

"She has purple wings."

Kid remained silent. Levi was sure he was as shocked as he himself had been when he had seen the girl's wings.

"Listen, Kid. The Northwings. What do you know about them?" Levi questioned. "I need to know everything you know."

"_Not much more than you. What do you need to know?_" Kid sounded nervous.

"The girl looked like... Do the Northwings really have a daughter?"

Kid didn't answer right away. He waited a few seconds. "_Yes and no._"

"What does that mean? And why have they hidden her?" Levi demanded.

"_How do you know anyway?_" Kid replied.

"Hanji provided me with some information from the Military Police Archives," Levi answered flatly.

"_I see... Well then. You are talking about Luxania Bellona, I suppose – yes, she is the daughter of the family, but she was adopted. You can imagine her wing color is quite peculiar and eye-catching and the rumors about her spread rather quickly, so Vincent had decided to take her under his wing and therefore adopted her into his family, so he could protect her. Vincent had always had a kind heart and also did he think that angels should help each other_," Kid explained.

It took a few moments for Levi to process what he'd just heard before he finally snapped out of his thoughts. He felt that his young friend was suspicious of his curiousity.

"But why _did_ he hide her? You can't tell me it's only because of her wings. '_Power level unknown_' – what does that mean, Kid? What possible reason could someone have to be after this girl? And why was she sent here? Kid, you have to tell me everything you know. You know you could always trust me – I just don't want the Military Police to get whatever the fuck they want. Trust me, Kid."

Kid sighed heavily before he finally gave in. "_Yes, you're right. I'm sorry, I was just... Okay. Well, in fact, nobody really knows where she comes from. But Vincent told me a few things. It seems that Luxania, or Lucy as she is called by Vincent's son Justin, is not a normal angel. She seems to have rather been created instead of born. That also explains her quite unusual wing color. It's something like an identifying feature._"

"Created? An angel?" Levi's voice had a rather disbelieving tone to it. "Is that even possible?"

"_Just look at me, Levi, and you know it's possible. You can create almost everything – all you need is a soul fragment and some strong magic. I, for example, was created from a fragment of my father's soul instead of naturally born. This means she is also a soul fragment – but no one knows to whom she belongs or who has created her. She could be a deity like me or not; no one knows for sure, for she doesn't seem to be too powerful right now, but it could also be because her powers aren't completely developed yet... Levi?_"

Levi had grown rather silent, shocked and stunned about what his young friend Kid had just told him. _A goddess? Can it be?_, he wondered.

"_Levi?_" Kid sounded worried.

"I'm here, I was just... Go on," Levi responded.

"_Well, she seems to have some sort of special magical abilities, but I don't know what she can do with them. But her most powerful ability consists of her weapon and meister abilities – as you may have realized when reading the files, she cannot only turn herself into a weapon, but she can also use any other weapon. But I can't tell you why Vincent would send her here, to the people who wanted the most to hurt her – I really don't know. Maybe it was an accident_," Kid finished his report.

Levi's head was pounding. He still didn't understand what the Military Police was planning on doing to that girl. Even when they wanted her for her powers, what would they do? There was no way they could extract her powers, they would most likely kill her before getting them. But there was something else bothering him... and Kid obviously thought the same.

"_Levi, now that I am thinking about it... Whatever it is they want from her, you must prevent them from getting it, Levi! They will send everyone into danger when they start experimenting on her – which they will most likely do. If she is really a divine being like me and they provoke her through anger, fear or whatever, they could accidentally awaken her powers! Such a process must happen slowly or the powers will overwhelm her and override her personality! You can imagine in what this would result..._" Kid's voice was anxious and shaky. He was right.

Levi stood up. "I promise, Kid, I will get the girl in my custody!" He slammed the phone on his desk and called for Hanji to send Eren and Armin to his office.

* * *

Eren and Armin had remained silent for a while before they finally managed to form a single word.

"WHAT?!"

Levi covered their mouths. "Shhh!" he hissed.

"Sorry..." they muttered. Again, Eren had felt the touch of Levi's soft hands, but he quickly snapped out of it.

He stared at his superior for what he had just heard. _Could__ she really be a deity, just like Kid?_ "What will happen to her?" he asked, feeling anxious for Lucy.

Levi shot him a look that seemed troubled. "Tomorrow there will be a trial concerning this matter. MP already stated their proposal and the girl will not be in the trial."

"What? But it's about her after all. She's an important witness," Armin said. He had finally regained his composure.

Eren clenched his fist. "Of course. That's what they want, isn't it? Those bastards don't want any interferences so they can get her as quickly as possible. Is that it?"

Levi nodded. "But I will do anything I can to prevent them from doing so. Listen to me, brats. I want you to go get some rest now. I will wake you tomorow. I want you to return to Death City as early as possible. Tell the others as well." With that being said, he reached for the empty cups on his desk.

Eren understood what that meant. "You don't want us to stay here? But we could help..."

"You already helped by saving the girl. I don't want my unit to get involved in this shitty situation, especially since you two would be the first one they would ask. I will tell them what you told me. Get going now."

Eren wanted to protest, but Armin held him back, so he gave in and stood up. "Thank you for the tea, sir... I mean, Levi."

Levi nodded as they left the office. It was true. He didn't want his unit to get involved. He didn't want _Eren_ to get involved... Eren was still a monster to those bastards; they still didn't trust him and had originally planned on doing the same to him as they now planned on doing to the girl, but he had prevented them from succeeding. Eren was still in danger and anything that could break his back was fine for them. Stopping them this time would not be easy.

When he sat down, he thoughtfully touched the spot where Eren's soft skin had come in contact with his hand. "Well, that was unexpected," he said.

* * *

Eren couldn't help but feeling angry and sad. He felt a strange connection to this girl called Lucy. Maybe it was because she was like him: an outsider, a stanger to this world, feared and admired at the same time. He shuddered when he thought about the possibilites of hurting the girl, torture methods they could use on her, experiments they could do on her... He felt along with her, he knew very well how she would soon feel – he had been treated in a similar way when the people had discovered his ability to turn into a Titan.

The gentle touch of a comforting hand at his arm had him out of his thoughts. "Eren?" Armin asked softly.

Eren shook his head to clear his thoughts and gave Armin a weak smile. "I'm sorry, I was just..."

"Don't worry. I know Levi can save her. He had already ripped you out of the MP's grasp..." Armin started.

"And exactly this is what's bothering me!" Eren snapped, leaving Armin rather frightened. "He already saved me from their grip, do you think they'll make this easy for him?!"

Armin backed up. "I..."

Seeing the frightened and hurt look in Armin's eyes, Eren calmed himself. Although Armin would never admit, Eren knew he was still slightly afraid of him, especially when he got angry. "I'm sorry, Armin. I'm just so tense," Eren spoke in a soft voice, putting a hand on Armin's shoulder who smiled and sighed in relief.

"Me too, Eren. But I know Levi can help her. The Council trusts him, I'm sure they will cooperate. They _must_ cooperate..."

"Yeah, let's hope so..." Eren muttered. "Come on, we should tell the others to get ready. Oh, hey... You noticed something?"

Armin looked at him, confused. "What?"

Eren smirked. "Her second name - she has my name in it."

Armin laughed. "Oh! 'Eren', I see! Well... translated, your name means 'saint' or 'holy person'. It's not only a boy's name like you thought - it can also be used as a girl's name. 'Serenity'... well, we all know what that means. Both names suit her quite well, don't they?"

Eren nodded and looked at him with an impressed face. "How do you know all that?"

Armin smiled widely. "From reading."

Eren rolled his eyes. "Of course."

Still smiling widely, two boys made their way to the dormitories to warn the others and take some rest. He thoughtfully looked at his hand where he had touched Levi's. He couldn't help but puzzle over the look Levi had had in his eyes.

_What was that?_, he wondered.

_**A/N: Phew, that was longer than I expected, and it would have been longer, but I didn't want to do that to you. And finally, the first Soul Eater character had his appearance here - even if only on the phone xD.  
**_

_**Yeah, well, Levi was kinda OOC here, but I tried my best to at least hint his original personality, I hope that's okay for you all. I already hinted, but Levi is completely troubled and in his thoughts.  
**_

_***hehe* I couldn't resist to put a bit of shipping in here xD. And did anyone notice my reference to Black Butler?**_

_**And please, give me some reviews and let me know if you think I should continue this story and if you like it - I'd be very glad to read your thoughts! I have some cool ideas for later chapters, so please let me know if you want me to continue!  
**_


	3. Chapter 3: The Trial

**Chapter 3: The Trial**

**__****Um... I had hoped this chapter would be a WAY shorter, but it turned out to be just as long... I tried everything to shorten it, but... oh well... Thought I should point that out first... *nervous laugh* Well... I hope you enjoy anyway... xD**

When Lucy woke up she felt as if she had been run over by a thousand horses. Burning pain shot through her body and her head was pounding like a drummer was doing practice inside it. She blinked a few times to adjust her eyes to her surroundings.

_Where am I? It's so dark..._

She groaned almost inaudibly when she felt her hurting back. Slowly, very slowly, she sat up and looked around. The dim light coming from two torches in front of her did not really help. She realized she was sitting on a mat; it was pretty soft, but she could still feel the hard ground through it. She looked in front of herself again – this time more closely, since her eyes had finally adapted to the darkness – and noticed some strange structure... It took a moment for her to realize that these were iron bars.

_What the...?!_

Her eyes widened. She was sitting in an underground cell.

_What happened?_

She tried to gather her senses and rubbed her aching head, noticing the rattling sounds coming from her chained wrists – she was a prisoner now. Of course. Her crash-landing. The two boys who had saved her. Eren Jaeger and Armin Arlert, if she remembered correctly. The Titan attack and the arrival of the Survey Corps. She had recognized them from their uniforms. The last thing she could remember was Eren touching her shoulder gently and saying that she was safe now, before she had passed out.

She tried to move somewhat, but her bruised back prevented her from making any sudden movements. She tried to stand up, but something made her halt in her movements. This feeling... She was being watched. But by whom? She looked through the iron bars in front of her again. After some time, she could make out a small figure leaning against the wall with crossed arms.

She recognized him immediately: It was Lance Corporal – or Captain – Levi, the two boys' superior and the man who had come to their aid. He was watching her with a look she couldn't make out. The fact that she was sitting in an underground cell with her arms chained up and the Captain of the Survey Corps watching her made her come to the conclusion that the situation was more than bad. So she ignored her aching body and gave in to the panic inside her that caused her to stand up, even if she winced in pain.

Levi watched her closely. He could tell by the way she moved that she was in pain. If he succeeded to get custody of her he would have to look after her wounds first. _They didn't even treat her injuries... Those bastards... Tch..._, he snorted mentally. He waited until the girl managed to keep herself steady before he spoke. "Decide to join the living yet, brat?" he said.

Lucy flinched. Levi's voice was calm and clear, yet had a threatening tone to it.

Levi felt himself struggling to maintain his personality. He had to play his role perfectly until the end of the trial. "You probably wonder what is going on here."

Lucy nodded her head and wondered if he could see it through the darkness.

"The Military Police has retained custody of you. You have been declared as a threat to humanity, so they are going to decide whether you should be killed," Levi spoke flatly.

Lucy flinched. The Military Police – the very same organization she had been trying to avoid. So they had gotten her. But why was the Captain of the Survey Corps here, then?

"Not the talkative type, huh?" Levi deadpanned. _How stupid... How would I react if I were in her position?_, he scolded himself mentally.

It didn't take long for Lucy to realize that she was doomed. Her fate was already decided, there was no denying it. She didn't even have the strength to fight or think of a plan to escape. If she used her healing powers here, this would only encourage them to kill her. She felt her body starting to tremble as she realized she had lost before she had even had a chance to prove herself.

Levi felt his heart clench at the desperate sight of her, but he needed to stay emotionless until it was all over – hopefully to his advantage. He could very well understand how the girl felt at the moment. He remembered how bad he had felt for Eren when said boy had sat in his cell with that sad and confused expression in his face; how he himself had felt while brutally beating Eren up – every single moment of that had hurt Levi more than anyone could have imagined, even if it had been just for show. He had never meant to hurt anyone, not even in his earlier days as an underground thug. He felt the urge to say something to the girl and took a few steps forward, noticing how she jerked her head up and looked at him with a startled expression.

"Giving up so fast? Tch... I didn't think of you to be someone to give up so easily when I read your files."

Lucy took a step backwards. This man's presence made her feel uneasy and nervous. What did he want from her? Was he working with the Military Police? No, he belonged to the Survey Corps. This could only mean that he wanted her, too... Her eyes grew wide as she watched Levi walking towards the iron bars, resting a hand on them. She flinched and backed away.

"Tch... Pretty jumpy for a supposed threat, aren't you? No need to worry. You are perfectly safe as long as there are iron bars between us. But when they are gone, there is nothing in this world that can keep me from hurting you, in case you should try anything. I know what you are." Only seconds later did he realize what he had just said when he watched the girl's reaction.

Lucy's hastily shuffled backwards and bumped into the wall with her back, causing her to yelp and wince in pain. Why did the Survey Corps want her? Hadn't Eren told Lucy that Levi would help her? Sure... he was here to _help_...

Levi had to struggle once again to ignore the feeling inside him. This young girl had been spending her entire life hiding from the humans and struggling to survive, yet had been willing to sacrifice herself in order to help Eren and Armin – seeing her so defenseless, with all hope lost, hurt him more than she thought. He didn't want the girl to be afraid of him, but he had to live up to his reputation – only until everything was over.

"Captain Levi, sir! You have been called to the court!" a man called from the end of the corridor in which Lucy's cell was located.

Levi pushed himself off the wall, relieved to finally be able to leave the dungeons. _I promise I will get you outta here – just hold on a little longer... This time they will not get what they want. I won't let them!_, he swore to himself as he walked up the stairs to the courtroom.

Lucy sunk to the ground. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head on them. _It's over. There is nothing I can do._ She had to put all her trust in Eren's words – Eren who had told her she would be safe.

She was ready to accept her fate.

* * *

Eren sat on the couch. He stared out the window with his fists clenched and his jaw tightened. He couldn't help it, but he felt as if the trial was about him, even though he wasn't even there. He remembered very well how _he_ had felt when he had waited for his fate to be decided. He caught himself caring for the girl. It was strange, though. He didn't even know her, but somehow he had quickly grown to feel some sort of sympathy for her – maybe because she somewhat reminded him of himself.

He remembered the moment she had jumped of the tree. Even though she had been frightened of him she had been willing to help him by offering herself as a bait to the Evil Titan. He thought back to the startled and frightened look she'd had in her eyes when he had found her. That look... Eren had the slight feeling it had not only been because of him being a stranger to Lucy – she had looked at him as if she had felt that he was different from the other people. The thought of it made him sad.

_Everyone I meet... Why is everyone afraid of me? I mean no harm to anyone..._

He had not chosen to be able to transform himself into a Titan. Even more strange was the fact that no one seemed to be afraid of Ymir, Reiner and Bertolt who were also Titan Shifters – but everyone seemed to be afraid of him. Was it because he was so short-tempered? No, it had to be something else. Ymir was even more short-tempered than him. But what was it, then?

He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a rather strong hand on his shoulder. "You okay, Eren?" Jean asked with a serious expression in his face.

Eren noticed that everyone in the room was staring at him anxiously. The _Levi_ _Unit_, as they used to call themselves, had gathered in the Lance Corporal's office, waiting for his return from the interior of Wall Sina.

Eren nodded and managed a faint smile that seemed false. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Mikasa sat next to him and grabbed his hands. "No, you're not."

Eren glared at her before slapping her hands off. He didn't even bother to answer her or look at the hurt expression in her face. Sometimes she just annoyed him with her overly caring and protective nature. He was able enough to look after himself.

"Why is everyone so tense, anyway?" Ymir asked. "I mean, we don't even know her."

"Ymir's right. We don't even know if she is friend or foe. Why are you so worried about her, Eren?" Mikasa asked, causing Armin to shoot her a death glare – an action he's never done towards her before.

"I knew you would say something like that," Eren griped. He stood up and walked to the window. "That look she had in her eyes was not the look of an enemy." He turned around to face the others with his determined gaze. "It was the look of a frightened, but yet determined and caring person, willing to protect others, who had no idea where she was. She was completely confused when Armin and I found her. She tried to run away from me and she was more than frightened, but when we were in danger she jumped in to help us."

Armin nodded.

"And it's not just about her. It's also about the Military Police. They always do what they want and are not even punished for it. Levi doesn't want them to get the girl and kill her for no reason, just because she accidentally landed here. That's why I care."

The others didn't say anything. Eren's words had been clear enough. So they sat and waited for their superior to return – hopefully as the winner.

* * *

Death the Kid sat in his room, thoughtfully staring out the window with his brows furrowed. His elbows leaned on the desk and his head rested on top of his folded hands. He had been sitting there like that for quite a while. His thoughts came across his phone call with Levi. Had he really found Vincent's adoptive daughter? But why would Vincent send her here? What puzzled him even more was the fact that Vincent was currently nowhere to be found. Kid had lost contact with him a few months ago and his old house looked abandoned. What was going on here?

The only one possibly able to answer that question was the girl named Lucy. Kid prayed that Levi would win this trial and bring Lucy to Death City. He was sure she was the key to the strange events that had occurred. Vincent had spent many years protecting her without telling anyone why – most likely because he knew what powers lay within her. But now he had disappeared without a trace. However, Kid knew him well enough to say that he was doing research. He surely knew more than anyone else and was trying to find out what was happening, just like him and Levi.

"Kid, you not coming to school today?"

Kid snapped out of his thoughts, slightly turning around to see Liz and Patty in the corner of his eye, poking their heads through the slightly opened door.

He shook his head. "No, I will stay at home. I have some things to do. But you don't have to go to school either if you don't want to. It's just fine with me."

The sisters looked at each other confusedly. "Are you okay, Kid? You've been kinda quiet since yesterday..." Liz looked worriedly at her troubled meister.

"I'll explain to you when it's over," Kid said bluntly. He didn't want the sisters get involved in this too early. "But right now we all have to wait."

The twin pistols gave him an anxious puzzled look, but decided not to poke the matter any further and left him alone.

Kid pulled out his pocket watch. "It's time," he mumbled and couldn't help but feeling his body involuntarily tensing as he prayed for the trial to be over soon.

* * *

Levi could already hear the noise from the courtroom, voices shouting and yelling at each other. With a loud sigh he opened the door.

The debate was already in full swing. Zackley was sitting on his seat, rubbing his temples. The Council was discussing what to do with the girl named Lucy. Some of the people thought it would be better to kill her – others couldn't wait dissecting her or using her for experiments.

"We don't know what she is! And this is the reason why we should do some experiments and tests, just to be sure!" a member of the Military Police said.

"And what if your experiments provoke her?"

Suddenly, the whole room became quiet. The sound of Levi's cold voice was enough to shut everyone up. Eyes were staring at the short, raven-haired man as he strode across the room with his arms crossed, guiding his sharp eyes around the rows of people, before finally stopping to claim his seat next to Hanji. His gaze rested on the Military Police's side of the room.

Moments of silence passed before he finally spoke again. "You are right. No one knows what she is – or am I wrong?" His gaze narrowed, causing a few MP members to shift nervously. "Why do I have the feeling that you pigs are planning something?"

The MP members looked at each other, but none of them dared to answer Levi.

"I guess I am right, then?" he said, voice with a threatening tone to it.

Finally, one of them stepped forward. It was Nile Dawk. "Even if we _were_ planning something, it would be none of your or the Survey Corps' business," he said.

"But it's none of _your_ business either," Levi countered.

"That girl landed in front of Wall Sina – everything concerning Wall Sina, its surroundings and its interior is the Military Police's job. Which means _we_ are in charge here," Dawk replied.

Levi's gaze narrowed again. "Then I wonder what you called me here for."

Dawk didn't hesitate to answer him right away. "It's the job of the Survey Corps to do such investigations and..."

"And to risk _their_ lives instead of your own?" Levi raised his voice, causing all the people in the room to flinch. "My unit was almost killed out there."

"Talking about that – we were going to hear Eren Jaeger and Armin Arlert as witnesses as well – but when we looked for them they were gone, including the rest of your unit," Dawk replied, giving Levi a slight smirk which did not impress the latter in the least.

"My unit has gone through more than enough. I sent them home. They were almost killed out there because of your stupid request," Levi responded with a glare.

"Maybe it was the girl's fault! From what I heard the Titans were only after her!" a man shouted. The MP members quickly tried to silence him, but it was too late.

Levi walked towards the MP members, shooting the man a piercing glare. "Where did you hear that?" he demanded.

The man didn't dare to answer.

"Not going to tell me, are you? Let me say it for you, then. You eavesdropped my conversation with Jaeger and Arlert last night."

Silence descended upon the room; suffocating silence until the man answered up. "You see?! He's admitting!" he shouted.

Levi quickly took a step forward, grabbing the man by his shirt's collar, pulling him towards his face. "And so are you." He turned around. "Jaeger and Arlert had told me about their encounter with the girl. They had noticed that the Titans were after her – and so did the girl. She knew they were after her..."

He was interrupted by the very same man." See?!"

"She knew it and decided to protect Jaeger and Arlert," Levi replied, silencing the man with a death glare.

The room had grown silent. Everyone was watching, though no one dared to say a word.

"She protected them?" Zackley had finally jumped into the conversation.

"Twice, from what I heard. She was willing to sacrifice herself to the Titans."

"Lies over lies! It was all a plot, can't you see that?!" the man screamed.

"I think what _you_ are doing here is a plot," Levi said bluntly. "You already know who this girl is. Hanji."

Hanji handed him the files as he walked over to her. He grabbed them and threw them on the floor, right in front of the Military Police members. The sheets made a flapping sound upon scattering around the floor. Nile Dawk's jaw dropped.

"These files were found by one of my colleagues. They contain every information about the girl you pretended to need. You already have them." A few people in the room were murmuring suspiciously. "Why doing experiments if you already know everything about this girl?" Levi demanded.

It took Dawk a few moments to regain his composure before he finally answered. "Well... As you can see, her power level has yet to be determined, and..."

"Another reason why you shouldn't use her as an experimentation subject. Tch... Idiots. You have no idea what could happen if this went wrong."

"What do you mean by that?!"

"None of us knows how powerful she is. If she is provoked it could awaken the possible powers lying within her – you wouldn't want that, would you?" Levi deadpanned.

The MP members shifted nervously. A few of them whispered to each other, considering killing the girl or even let her go.

"Another reason why we should kill her!"

"No." Levi had raised his voice a bit. Now was the time to play his trump cards. "It's risky – but no one says you can't do experiments. We all want to find out her power level to determine whether she is a threat or not." He waited a few moments for everyone to catch up. "But she needs to be prepared and trained first."

All eyes in the room were on him, watching him tensely.

"I think I already said it in Jaeger's trial. Pain and fear are the best tools for discipline. As long as she is as weak as now I can perfectly train her before she regenerates and regains her survival instinct."

The Military Police seemed to know where this was going – if they didn't do anything, Levi would get the girl. Levi watched as Nile Dawk intensely thought of something he could say, but before he could open his mouth, he was interrupted by Zackley.

"You think you can do this?" he asked, directed to Levi.

"I handled Jaeger – as long as she is in this state she will pose no threat to me. I can tell from her reaction when she saw me standing in front of her cell that she already seems to be afraid of me," Levi replied.

"But who says you can handle an angel?!" Dawk snapped angrily. Levi sensed that he didn't want him to gain the upper hand – which he had already done.

"You would do it?" Zackley asked, completely ignoring Dawk.

"I believe I am the only one who can," Levi replied.

He watched as Zackley slowly nodded his head.

"We will retreat to discuss our final decision," Zackley said, disappearing through the door behind his desk with the rest of the Council following him.

Levi reclaimed his seat next to Hanji who gave him a quick pat on the back, closely watching the MP members. He saw Dawk talking to two of his men who left the room shortly after. He sensed that something was off, but he didn't say anything. If he rushed after those two just now he would most likely get in trouble. But he couldn't shake the feeling of already knowing what those two were going to do.

* * *

Lucy lifted her head when she heard the rattling sound of the cell door open. Two men were standing in front of her.

"We need to get her into the carriage and leave as fast as possible! Hurry up!" the taller one said, moving towards her and grabbing her by her arms. The other one moved to her side as well, helping the other man to roughly pull her to her feet and shove her forward. "Move!"

She felt a rough hand grabbing a tuft of her hair and pulling at it. She barely managed to suppress a yelp when she felt something being shoved into her half-opened mouth. Of course. A gag.

"If you try anything we will kill you right away! You better cooperate or this will be painful, my little crumpet!"

She was dragged out of her cell and onto the streets. Did the Military Police get her? No... She could tell by the way the two men were acting: They were acting frantically, like they had something to lose... So it was not over yet. But why did they drag her outside? Of course – they wanted to hide her for themselves. No, she would not let this happen – she would not let them get her.

She felt her resolve coming back to her, felt the fire of her will to survive spreading throughout her body, filling it with warmth and giving her the strength she needed to ignore her aching body. With one quick movement she managed to squirm herself out of the two men's grip, ripping the gag out of her mouth and beginning her fight for survival.

* * *

"It's decided. She will be yours, Levi," Zackley said plainly as if he hadn't even needed to think over his decision.

Levi felt like a burden had been taken off him. He breathed out a relieved sigh; a few people inside the courtroom did the same. However, this moment didn't last long when another MP member stormed through the door.

"The girl has escaped her cell! She's gone!" he shouted.

Levi's eyes widened in horror. _How the fuck did this happen?!_, he cursed in his thoughts. _Those two... Dammit!_

"I wonder where your two colleagues went, Dawk," he replied with a glare, causing a realizing Dawk to give him a startled look. "I will look after the girl! She can't have gone too far!" Levi shouted, storming out the room.

Dawk moved towards the door as well and motioned for his squad to follow him outside.

Levi put his coat on. He knew the MP would follow him, so he decided to take the more subtle path to the courtyard through the back entrance. He pulled the hood of his coat over his head; he would stay in the shadows – maybe he could still help the girl out of this situation. However, he would have never expected what he then saw happening in the courtyard...

* * *

Lucy dodged the two men's swinging fists and kicking legs, perfectly countering their attacks. She ran towards the taller one, used his bent knee as a step to push herself away from him, knocking him to the ground while backflipping against the other one and knocking him to the ground with the heels of her boots as well. Those two were incapacitated for now. She watched as more members of the Military Police raided the place, readying their rifles to point them at her.

"Ready!" the man in charge shouted.

Lucy froze. She would have to act swiftly.

"This is your last chance to surrender! Otherwise we will shoot!"

Lucy didn't hear him. She stood still and concentrated on bundling her soul wavelenghts. For a moment, nothing happened. But then she unleashed her soul – a giant winged orb glowing in a faint bluish-lilac – with a powerful flurry of wind. She smashed the long chain between her wrists against her knee, breaking it and using it as a whip. She spun around, magically extending the chain with the help of her soul wavelengths and whipping it at the rifles. The chain twirled around her in spirals, catching the rifles, snapping them out of their wielders' hands and sending them flying everywhere.

She could see people running towards her and lashed at them, wrapping her soul wavelengths around them and sending them tumbling to the ground. When they came too close she quickly switched to her close combat tactics, easily dodging and incapacitating everyone near her, without hurting them really.

Finally, she had fended off the first wave. Panting, she knelt down to take a few deep breaths before her head snapped back up upon hearing the sounds of approaching people. She quickly hid around the corner and had no idea that someone had been watching her...

* * *

Levi's eyes had involuntarily widened while watching the fight. Such powerful soul wavelengths... He had never seen anyone to be able to form their souls _so_ precisely – not even Dr. Franken Stein, the most powerful meister who had ever left the DWMA. Just now, she had already proven to be far more powerful than originally thought. He would have to change his tactics now if he wanted to get her. There was only one way... He hoped she would give in soon and not try to defend herself too fiercely – or that she would forgive him, in case he had to go further...

He watched as the second wave of guards surrounded her. She was now severely weakened and didn't look like she could put up another fight; her injuries took the best of her. She nearly collapsed, but managed to keep her wobbly knees steady. He slid the hood of his coat off and strode towards the girl.

* * *

Now there was no way out. She was too weak to fight anymore and healing herself would take too much time, but she didn't want to give up that easily. So she readied herself once more and therefore noticed the person walking up to her from behind far too late.

She felt her head jerked around and a second later, the back of a small, but strong hand slapped across her left cheek, causing her to loose her balance. She tumbled and fell to the ground rather harshly, trying to catch a glimpse of her attacker with a puzzled and startled expression on her face and completely losing her orientation on what was happening. Before she could gather her senses she felt a hand grabbing a tuft of her hair, jerking her head upward.

"Hold still or this will hurt even more," she heard a cold voice at her ear. Strangely enough, it sounded familiar...

_It's that Levi guy again!_, she thought.

She turned her head to look at him - a bad mistake... A leg painfully crashed into her face, immediately causing her nose to bleed. She screamed in pain and threw her arms up in attempts to get hold of her attacker, but she began to feel dizzy and collapsed to the ground. Levi's eyes widened, but he quickly regained his composure.

_I told you to hold still, you brat!_, he cursed mentally. _I meant to hit your temples!_

Just when she thought it was over and tried to stand up, she felt the final kick to her stomach, causing her to wince and scream in pain once again, before she felt a foot on her head, pressing it to the ground. She had always been hit by her stepmother – but it had never been as painful as now; at the moment she was weak and vulnerable.

"I already said it. Pain and fear are the best tools for discipline," Levi spoke. His heart clenched at the sight of the now limp body lying beneath him.

The MP's stood there with their jaws dropped, watching as the girl didn't dare to move a muscle. Lucy was too afraid of getting hit again.

"Wasn't this enough to prove what I said?" Levi asked. "You have seen what she can do. Just look at her now - tame as a lamb."

The guards lowered their rifles. They seemed to realize that it was too dangerous to keep the girl in their custody. Levi smirked in his thoughts – now he had won. Even Nile Dawk had to admit now. He scowled, reluctantly giving in and nodding. He motioned for his own squad to lower their rifles as well.

Hanji ran over. "LEVI!" she squealed excitedly. "Oh, we will have so much fun with her, won't we?!"

Levi rolled his eyes in irritation and sighed noisily. "First, she needs to be trained before anyone can do experiments on her. I shall take responsibility for her. I will take her with me," he added, directed to the MP guards who reluctantly nodded.

Dawk took a step forward. "You will return with her as soon as the training is over! You know that condition!"

Levi nodded. He turned to face Hanji. "Hanji, I will take my leave now."

"Fine! I will report everything to Erwin!"

"And, Hanji?"

Hanji turned around to face Levi.

"Call Kid and Eren. Tell them what happened," he requested.

Hanji nodded her head vigorously. "I will! Well then, let's go!" she called to her assistant, storming off.

Levi looked at the guards who were now slowly retreating, before he turned his attention to the Lucy who was still lying on the ground, panting heavily. Her breath came out in shaky gasps as if she was trying to keep herself from crying. He felt a lump in his throat. He had gone too far...

* * *

Lucy felt Levi lifting his foot from her pounding head, though she still didn't dare to move. She felt her heart skipping a beat when she felt him squatting down beside her. She felt hands slowly rolling her onto her back, forcing her to look into Levi's eyes whose face was now above her, looking at her with a serious expression. Her eyes widened as a surprisingly soft hand slid under her limp legs and an arm gently wrapped itself around her shoulders, carefully lifting her off the ground. Only seconds later did she realize that the Lance Corporal was now carrying her bridal-style towards the stables.

She couldn't hear his thoughts on their own and it was making her uneasy. She started to squirm, once more ignoring her aching body.

"Stop struggling!" Levi griped.

"Let me go!" she screamed hysterically.

She tried to squirm herself out of his arms, but the more she struggled the more he tightened his grip to prevent her from escaping, leaving her yelping in pain at her bruised back.

"LET ME GO!" she screamed again, this time louder.

"Shhh!" Levi hissed, trying to calm her down. "Will you shut up and stop struggling?! It won't do you any good!"

He felt his heart sink. He hadn't meant to scare her that much. He ignored her further pleas and attempts to escape his firm grip and carried her to the stables. He needed to get his horse. He felt her relaxing and hoped she now understood that he was trying to help her. He gently sat her on the ground.

"Wait here. I'm getting my horse."

Lucy didn't even think of obeying. She waited until he had disappeared before she scooted out of his visual range. She hid between two stables, waiting for Levi's angry voice to shout for her. However, minutes passed without that happening. Instead, she felt something behind her, but before she could turn around she felt the very same soft hand that had slapped her across the face and carried her covering her mouth from behind while an arm wrapped itself around her waist, dragging her behind the nearest stable. She tried to free herself, but Levi's grip was too strong.

She felt his hot breath against her ear. "Don't move. Don't scream."

She didn't listen to him. Suddenly, she felt something cold pressed against her throat and realized it was a blade.

"Be quiet," Levi said sharply, holding a dagger in his left hand.

It was then that she obeyed. She heard foosteps approaching, passing by, people talking, and then it was quiet again.

Taking this as his cue, Levi dragged Lucy towards the bigger stables which also had his horse in them and shoved her inside before closing the door, putting the knife back in his pocket and slowly walking towards the panicking girl.

Lucy shuffled away from him, using the long hallway between the horse boxes to her advantage. "No! Get away!" she yelled at him. This man's thoughts were incredibly hard to read and she didn't know if she could really trust him.

Levi lifted his hands in an appeasing manner. "Calm down." This time, his voice sounded oddly gentle.

Lucy bumped against the wall behind her. _What?! I'm already at the end?!_ She shifted nervously, suspiciously watching Levi who had already reached her and was now standing a few inches in front of her. He looked at her with an expression that somehow looked quite gentle and... _sad_?

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she screamed as Levi reached out for her, tears of fear now running down her cheeks.

He did not give up that easily. "Calm down." His voice had a calm and soothing tone to it.

"What do you want from me?! I don't even know how or why I landed here! I don't..."

Lucy was cut off by Levi covering her mouth and glaring at her. "Shhh!" he hissed. " Listen to me! If I wanted to kill you I would have done that already! The only way to help you was to hurt you until you lost your concentration on fighting. So calm yourself. Calm the fuck down, you brat."

Lucy's eyes widened in realization: Levi had protected her. He had used her weakness to calm the guards down – however, this could not calm _her_ down and she squirmed, causing him to rest his hands on her shoulders to hold her firmly in place. "I'm not a brat!" she replied in an indignant and defiant voice, fruitlessly trying to squirm herself out of Levi's firm grip.

Levi regretted his action and loosened his grip a bit. "I said, calm down," he repeated, this time calm again. His gaze softened when he looked at Lucy who was still trying to avoid him.

The sound of his soft voice caused Lucy to involuntarily relax.

"Look at me." When she did not do so he cupped her face in his soft hands, forcing her to look into his now gentle eyes. "I didn't mean to hurt you," he told her honestly.

Lucy looked at him for a while, feeling tears streaming down her cheeks again. She grabbed the collar of his shirt, but didn't have the strength to do or say anything. Instead, she let her knees buckle and scooted down until she sat on the ground.

Levi couldn't bear with the situation any longer. He squatted down beside the girl, carefully reaching out for her. Lucy's eyes widened as she felt a pair of arms wrapping themselves around her. Levi gently pulled her closer to him, lifting a hand to press her head against his chest. Lucy tensed under his touch and flinched at the short pain in her back.

"Shhh... At ease. I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered softly into her hair.

She tried to pull away from him as he tightened his grip ever so lightly.

"You don't have to hide your tears from me. If you have to cry, do it. If you have to scream, do it. It's over. So stop fighting already."

She froze. _Please... Let me help you... Stop fighting..._ And right then she did. Her quiet sobs soon grew louder as she cried out all her emotions at once, letting the tears stream freely down her face and not even trying to hold them back. She felt Levi's soft hands calmingly and gently rubbing at her bare back.

"Shhh..." Levi whispered again. He felt her trembling under his arms as her body was shaking from her sobs. It hurt him every time a cry of sorrow emerged from her throat.

Without noticing, he gave her access to his mind. Once again, images flashed through her head. Images of a younger Levi trying to calm down a boy with short blonde hair and intense blue eyes who had blade protruding from the length of his right arm and sat on the ground, shaking and almost hyperventilating. Images of Levi brutally beating up a boy she recognized as Eren. Images of a rather sad Levi standing amongst people who had obviously been brutally killed, standing before a woman with short light ginger hair who was splattered against a tree. Images of Levi standing in a courtroom and threatening the members of the Military Police. _I won't let you have her, you pigs! You will not get her!... Don't worry. I will protect you from them... Just hold on a little longer..._ She saw Levi sitting in his office, talking to Eren and Armin. He handed them some papers which she recognized as her own files. So Levi and the two boys already knew everything about her. She realized that Levi not only _had_ protected her, but rather _still wanted_ to protect her. She felt all the anger, sadness and pain he had been gone through all these years.

A few minutes later she was quiet and calm, so Levi released her. He wrapped his fingers around her chin, gently pulling her face up to look at him. He couldn't help but staring into her now emotionless face and those empty eyes. Seeing the dirt and blood on her skin, he failed to ignore the nagging feeling inside him.

"Tch... Just look at you, you filthy brat..." he deadpanned.

He loosened the cravat around his neck and took it off, gently wiping it over Lucy's dirty, tear-stricken face and her bloody nose, not caring for once if his clothes got dirty. Lucy didn't even tense when his gentle hands brushed against her cheeks.

"Lucy." She slowly lifted her head upon hearing him say her name for the first time. "Do you hate me?" he asked honestly, watching her as she looked up at him.

She thought for a moment, but then she shook her head. No, she did not hate this man who had just saved her life. So the boy named Eren had been right after all: He had indeed helped her.

"Glad to hear." Levi sighed in relief. After a moment, he stood up, put the now dirty cravat into his pocket and then helped Lucy up by draping her arm around his shoulder. "I will take you to Death City. We need to take care of your wounds."

Lucy let it happen. She felt too empty and tired to fight. She let Levi lead her outside the stable before getting his horse. He stood in front of her, watching her shivering, half-naked figure as her arms wrapped themselves around her upper body in attempts to cover it. _She must be cold_, he thought. He slipped his coat off his shoulders, leaving himself in his black suit, and draped it over hers, noticing her short flinch. It was a long, black, sportive-looking coat with thin white lines and markings and a hood on it. It suited her perfectly, considering the fact that she was a few inches shorter than him.

"Take my coat," he spoke. "It will be getting colder soon."

She slipped her arms through the sleeves and pulled the coat closer to her, feeling the comfortable warmth it offered her, as Levi walked over to his horse, climbed it and held a hand out to her. She grabbed it and felt herself being dragged onto his black horse.

"Hold on tightly," Levi told her. "It might be difficult, but you should try to rest for a bit. Try to sleep. I will wake you when we have arrived."

Lucy wrapped her arms around Levi's toned torso. She could feel his tensed abdominal muscles through the thin fabric of his shirt. Lucy's body felt weak and limp, barely strong enough to keep her arms steady. She felt her eyelids growing heavy.

"Are you comfortable?" Levi asked, glancing back at her.

She hesitantly nodded against his back.

"Good. You can rest now... Lucy," he said softly.

Lucy buried her face in his back and finally closed her eyes, dozing off to the horse's rhythmic movements.

_**A/N: Damn, that was way too long! I'm so sorry for that! I noticed and tried to rush it a bit – you may have noticed – but it didn't work *hugs* I hope you enjoy either way. I promise I will try to make the future chapters shorter, okay? *hugs* Man, I hate trial scenes :( !  
**_

_**Uh, yeah, about Levi: I thought I should write him a bit more human, so he turned out to be more OOC, though I tried to keep his normal personality... I try to do him differently in the next chapters, unless you don't mind him showing off a BIT more emotions - let me know, okay? And yeah, I would be really happy to read some reviews and your thoughts!**_

_**And about the "Do you hate me?" part: Sorry, but I really HAD to bring this in! xD**_


	4. Chapter 4: A Ray of Hope

**Chapter 4: A Ray of Hope**

_**A/N: Well, a lot of Levi in this chapter and I hope you like what he does in this chapter - even though it might not quite fit his personality xD Enjoy!  
**_

Kid rushed to his phone, almost slipping on the marble floor. "Yes?" He almost yelled into the speaker.

"_Hey, Kid! Got some news!_" an all-too-familiar voice squealed from the other end of the line.

"Hanji, is that you?! What happened?!" Kid's voice was laced with worry.

He heard Hanji's cackling laughter. "_We got the girl!_"

Kid's eyes widened. "Is it really true?" he said in an excited whisper.

"_Yes, Levi won the trial! He's on his way back now, but he will be a little delayed. Could you please pass the message to Eren and the others? Oh, gotta go! I still have to report to Erwin! See ya!_" And with that being said, Hanji hung up.

Kid put the phone down. He let out a relieved sigh and a smile spread across his face. "So the first step is done. Very well, then!" he shouted, clapping his hands.

Liz and Patty gave him a puzzled expression, but before they could ask what was going on, he motioned for them to follow him.

"I'll explain to you later. Let's go! We have to bring the news to Eren!"

* * *

Eren was sitting in the mess hall with the others, his head resting thoughtfully in his hands. Mikasa had been trying to engage him into a conversation, but to no avail. He was too busy with pondering on what could have happened to Levi and the girl, so she had finally given up.

It was evening now and Levi had still not returned. _Did he loose the trial? But even so... what's taking him so long?_ Eren wondered. He couldn't shake the feeling something bad might have happened. No, it couldn't be. It was Levi, after all – if there was anyone able to save themselves from any situation, it would be Levi for sure.

For as long as Eren had gotten to know him, Levi had always been a strong and silent person, maybe a bit unsociable, cold, dismissive and hard to be around – but he was a caring person. He cared for all of his soldiers, even for Eren, who had originally thought Levi hated him because of his powers. However, somehow, he had the feeling Levi was more gentle toward him than toward others.

Eren couldn't help but feel impatient for Levi to return. Somehow, not knowing if Levi was safe or not made him feel anxious. He felt empty. No... He _always_ felt empty and lonely when Levi wasn't around. Maybe it was the fact that Levi seemed to be the only one who wasn't afraid of him and could very well understand how it felt being feared by others. Eren thought back to when he had accidentally brushed Levi's hand and the look the latter had had in his eyes.

_I never thought his hands to be so soft..._ Eren caught himself. _What am I thinking?! But... they really were soft, weren't they?_ Yes, Lance Corporal Levi had soft hands. It sounded strange, but it was the truth. Levi seemed to be cold only on the outside, but Eren knew he had a soft side in the inside as well. But why was Eren thinking about that? He shook his head to clear his thoughts again.

His thoughts trailed to the girl. Lucy. _What a beautiful name... No, she is beautiful, too..._ he thought. He didn't know why, but he felt some strange kind of sympathy for Lucy, although he didn't know her. She intrigued him somehow. But what would happen to her now? Would Levi return with her – or would he return with empty hands? The thought of Levi losing made Eren feel sick and he bit his lip in nervosity. Levi was someone who never lost.

He looked around. Everyone seemed to be as deep in thought as he was. All of them had the same empty expression in their faces.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a joyful Kid's voice. "Eren! And the others, of course! Good news!"

All heads snapped back to look at Kid who was entering the mess hall with his two weapon partners, Liz and Patty. Eren stood up as Kid walked over to him, smiling broadly.

"Levi won the trial!" Kid shouted excitedly, causing some people to stare at him with wide eyes, including Eren who grabbed his shoulders in anticipation. "Yes, he is on his way now. But he will not arrive until tomorrow morning. He was delayed, but successful."

A few moments of silence passed before everyone broke out in cheers, applause and relieved murmuring. Eren breathed a relieved sigh and returned Kid's smile, releasing said boy's shoulders. A giant stone had just fallen from his heart. He watched the others slowly vacating the room to finally get some rest. Eren followed soon and locked himself in his room, falling fast asleep with a content smile on his face.

* * *

"Oi, you brat... Lucy. Lucy, it's time to wake up."

Lucy woke up when she felt a pair of hands gently shaking her arms. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times to regain her orientation. She was still sitting on the horse behind Levi, arms wrapped around said boy's waist, but the horse was now walking slowly. It was almost dark, so it was either early in the morning or late at night. Lucy didn't know for how long she had been sleeping, but now she felt even more tired. She lifted her head from Levi's back to see him glancing back at her.

Levi watched as she sleepily rubbed her eyes with her small hands. She really looked adorable. _Cute_, he thought to himself, a small smile tugging inconspicuously at his lips. "We're almost there," he explained. "How do you feel?"

Lucy gave him a look he could not quite make out, sleepily blinking her dark brown eyes.

_Cute_, he thought again. People never believed it, but even _he_ could find things cute, even though he would never admit it openly. He remembered the flinch Eren had made and the look he had had in his eyes when Levi had sat next to him after his brutal beatings. He had suddenly looked so vulnerable - and maybe even... _cute_...

He shook his head. Somehow, he couldn't help but thinking about Eren all the time since said boy had accidentally touched his hand. However, the way Lucy looked at him now reminded him of Eren somehow... Maybe it was because of her being in the same situation as Eren had been back then.

He watched her. Looking at her body parts that weren't covered with his coat, he could determine the damage the last day had inflicted on her: Her dark brown hair was messy and dirty as well as the rest of her body, he knew her now hidden wings were tattered and her skin was covered in cuts and bruises. She had a bruise on her left eye from his kick earlier and her nose and mouth were still bloody. Her originally tan face was pale and her tired eyes still had the same emptiness in them like before.

_She's in shock..._ Levi's brows furrowed and he bit his lip in regret at the thought of how he had treated her.

Lucy noticed Levi's regret. She felt him watching her, but somehow she felt too tired to do anything about it. No... not tired... _empty_... Instead, she slowly guided her eyes past him to see the illuminated figure of the famous DWMA building towering above Death City with its giant candles emerging from giant faces shaped in the form of Lord Death's masks. Levi and she were currently riding through Death City's alleyways, slowly approaching the bulding.

Lucy could have gone to the DWMA, too, but her stepmother had spoiled everything. Of course. That would have been her chance to finally get away from Frances – and the latter didn't want that. But there was also her adoptive brother Justin. He needed her... She had to go back. _What could he be doing right now? Maybe he's missing me... No, he's not. Why would anyone miss me?_ The thought of that made her sad. Why couldn't she remember why she was here? What had happened? Why was she here and not at home? Why had her foster father sent her here? Why?

Levi seemed to sense her mood and turned around to look away from her. A few minutes passed in silence before they finally stopped near a border post in front of the gates leading toward the school. Two guards, wearing the uniform of the Survey Corps, ran over to them, saluting.

"Welcome back, Levi! And successful, we see!"

Levi nodded. "Take my horse," he ordered, "but don't take it to the stables. Keep it here with you."

"Yes, sir!" they shouted at once.

Levi jumped off, casting Lucy an expectant look. She knew what that meant and slowly turned to swing her right leg to the other side of the horse. Levi watched her suspiciously. She would surely fall off, considering how weak she was. With a noisy sigh he held out his arms to her.

"Take it easy. I'll help you."

Lucy prepared to slide off the horse, but before she could react her body gave in and she fell. Levi's eyes widened as he took a quick step forward to catch her. He lost his balance when she landed in his arms and so he fell to the ground, hitting it hard with his back, clinging onto Lucy for dear life. She squealed at the pain in her back, causing him to immediately loosen his grip.

"I said, take it easy, you brat," he griped, dusting himself off as he stood up. "Come on. It's not too far from here."

He turned to face the soldiers who immediately led the horse into the small stable next to their post. Lucy struggled to stand up, but her strength wasn't sufficient.

"Let's go," Levi ordered, preparing to leave.

Lucy looked at him, her face emotionless and unreadable. She guided her eyes to the long flight of stairs leading up to the DWMA building. How was she supposed to walk all of these up? She looked at Levi again who impatiently glanced down at her. He sighed noisily and finally squatted down beside her. She flinched at his closeness, slightly shuffling away from him.

Levi scowled. _Dammit... I suppose I intimidated her._

Lucy felt his arms wrapping themselves around her torso from behind, carefully pulling her to her feet. Her weak legs trembled, clearly not strong enough to keep her limp body straight. Her knees buckled, but Levi's hands caught her once more and pulled her up before she hit the ground, draping her right arm around his shoulders.

He caught the strange look in her eyes. "What? Did you think I was going to carry you, brat?" he snapped.

Lucy pulled her arm away from him and tried to make a few unfirm steps, but she suddenly felt dizzy and tumbled. Levi stormed forward to keep her steady, before letting out another noisy, irritated sigh.

"Come here," he ordered, carefully pulling her toward him.

Once she was close enough he bent down to place a hand on the back of her legs. She understood his intention and tried to pull away, but his grip was firm.

"At ease," he whispered comfortingly. "You don't have to tense up at my presence. I already told you, I mean you no harm. So calm down."

She was carefully lifted up by his strong arms.

"I'll carry you up the stairs, but that's all," he replied sharply, giving her an icy glare. "Understood, brat?"

Lucy nodded. He climbed the stairs pretty fast and without much effort, but had no intention of letting her down once he reached the top. He had obviously decided to carry her the rest of the way as well, but she started squirming, causing Levi to cast her a puzzled look.

"Now you want to walk, brat?" He gently put her down, but never let go of her arm draped around his shoulders.

"I... I can walk by myself..." she finally said, hesitantly, quietly, trying to pull her arm back.

"Tch... No way. You can't even walk one step without falling. I'll support you." And so he did, leading her over to the school's front door. "I will take you to the school's infirmary – I trust the people here more than any hospital," Levi explained, so Lucy let it all happen – she had no strength to fight back.

"Levi!" a voice called from afar, causing him to look up.

"Doctor Medusa," he said, nodding toward a woman who was walking over to the two of them. She had golden-colored eyes and short blonde hair with two longer twirled strands, falling loosely to her chest. She wore a short, black dress with arrow shaped markings on the skirt and a white lab coat.

"So this is our patient," she mumbled, smiling at Lucy. "Well then, let me take a short look at you in advance before we take you inside." She put on her stethoscope and started auscultating her. "Poor thing... I can imagine what you must have gone through." Medusa cast Lucy a worried, sympathetic look.

"Too much," Lucy heard Levi say quietly near her ear. Somehow, it was difficult for her to read Levi's thoughts. She felt he had a very strong mind and normally didn't show people what he was feeling or thinking.

* * *

"Eren, look!"

Eren felt Armin's tugging at his sleeve. He had woken up early, _very_ _early_, to not miss Levi's and Lucy's return. He had soon come to realize that he had not been the only one awake and the others had just followed him.

He followed Armin's gaze and felt his heart jump. There they were. He wanted to walk toward them, but he halted in his movements when he looked at bit more closely. The last day sure had taken its toll on the both of them. Levi looked even more tired than before and the sight of Lucy was worse than yesterday; beside her other injuries she had a bruise on her left eye and her nose was bloody.

_What happened to you, Lucy? What did they do to you?_, he wondered, clenching his fists in anger.

"Wow, look at her," Ymir spoke. "Man, she looks bad..." For once, there was no sarcasm or condescension in her voice – but rather worry.

"She can't even keep herself steady," Armin pointed out.

Eren looked again. Indeed. She had her arm draped around Levi's shoulder. But something else was troubling him: The look in her eyes. It looked so empty, so... _vulnerable_... She sure must have gone through hell yesterday. She looked as if she had been drained of all strength she'd had in her small body.

Lucy felt someone watching her, but she didn't react. She just wanted it all to be over. Once again she felt her knees buckle, but Levi caught her and kept her steady. She did not see Eren's worried glances toward her. _I want to go home_, she thought. _I feel so tired..._

Levi grimaced at the sight of the dirty girl. _Dammit, I forgot... Now I have to carry her back down... Tch..._ "We need to take care of all the dirt on her body. It could get into her wounds. I will take her to our headquarters. She can use the bathroom in my room."

Medusa nodded. "Yes. I will prepare everything and visit you afterwards to take care of her."

Levi nodded back before scooping up Lucy once again. She squirmed in his arms.

"Oi, easy. You want to walk the stairs back down by yourself?" he asked, cocking his eyebrows at her.

She didn't answer, but relaxed. _What did he carry me upstairs for?_, she wondered as he helped her on the horse once more before riding off.

* * *

"They're headed toward the dorms," Armin pointed out, causing Eren to smile widely.

"This means she will stay with us, then!" he said happily, causing the others to smile at his reaction. "I wonder what they did to her..."

"She surely got what she deserved. We don't even know if we can trust her," Mikasa spoke coldly. The others looked at her indignantly, shocked. "You better stay away from her, Eren. We don't know what she is."

Eren took a step forward and smashed his forhead against Mikasa's in a fit of rage, knocking her off her feet. Bertolt had to restrain him.

"Hey, calm down, Eren!" Jean said, helping up Mikasa.

"How can you say that, Mikasa?! She didn't do anything! It was not her fault that she landed here! And besides, _we_ know what she is!" Eren pointed toward himself and Armin, watching everyone's jaws dropping.

"Eren, he told us not to say anything!" Armin panicked, tugging at Eren's sleeve.

"Only until the trial is over, Armin. So calm down."

He told the others what Levi had shown them. Again, jaws dropped, but Eren could also see a hint of understanding in the others' eyes – even in Mikasa's, although she scowled even more than before at his caring behavior toward Lucy. They finally seemed to understand how important it was to protect the girl from the Military Police.

"We should pay her a visit later," Ymir suggested, earning herself approving murmuring, "to show her that she is one of us now, shouldn't we?" She winked at Krista who blushed and looked down.

Connie stared at her wide-eyed. "Wow... I never expected _you_ to say something like that..."

"What'd you say, maggot?!"

The others only smiled at the two of them. Armin stepped next to Eren. "See, Eren? Like I said, Levi won," he smiled.

Eren smiled back, putting a hand on the blond's shoulder as he turned his head in the HQ's direction before he and the others returned there as well. They needed to do some make-up for themselves to make a good first impression on their new team mate.

* * *

Lucy patiently sat on a chair in Levi's office; a nice and tidy room with an ornated desk, matching chairs and a small couch standing against the wall behind her. The rising sun cast its rays through the window, bathing the room in a warm golden glow.

She patiently waited for Levi to return who had disappeared minutes ago. She wondered where he could have gone and what he was up to. Even though her new surroundings made her uneasy, she simply had no strength left to escape or fight. She didn't even think of healing herself. She didn't know what to do at all. She had no idea what Levi wanted from her. Did he really want to protect her? Or was he going to use her for experiments, just like the MP? Was he going to surrender her to them again? Or would he keep her away from them?

Her head was pounding as she sat there, unmoving, emotionless. She had no other choice but to wait. If he wanted to kill her she would not fight back. Anything was better than being let live and treated like an animal...

Then Lucy heard the door open, but she didn't have to look up to see who it was. She heard Levi sigh heavily before he sat down in front of her, right behind his desk, squeezing his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose. He sat there for a few moments before he finally looked up again to stare at Lucy.

He couldn't help but feeling bad for the girl. He could imagine what she had gone through – not only yesterday, but rather during her entire life. _Someone as young as she is shouldn't have to go through this..._, he thought.

Lucy wondered what Levi was waiting for until he sighed again, causing her to look up at him as he stood up and came walking toward her.

"We need to wash that filth off," he said bluntly. "Come on."

Lucy stood up and followed him out the office into a room that looked as tidy as his office. She shortly caught sight of a bed, but she didn't have time to take a look around. _Is this his bedroom?_, she wondered, further following him into the next room which turned out to be a bathroom – a rather big one with a bathtub, a shower cubicle and two sinks. She supposed the toilet was located separately, then.

She felt tugging, stretching her arms out to allow Levi to slip the coat off her shoulders. She heard him snort in disgust as he looked at the coat.

"Tch... filthy..."

"I'm sorry..." Her voice was monotone and quiet, but audible.

Levi's gaze softened a bit. "It's not your fault," he said flatly. "I would've washed it, anyway." He pointed to the bathtub. "Sit."

She obeyed, slightly flinching when Levi sat next to her.

"Don't be so tense," he sighed.

He took a look at her exposed back and gasped lightly. It was covered in bruises; no wonder she had always flinched when he had accidentally touched her back. He went over to the sink to wet a washcloth and put some water in a small bowl before returning to her.

"I need to wash your back. Then you can do the rest by yourself."

She flinched at the pain of the touch, but quickly relaxed when she felt how gentle Levi was at wiping the washcloth over her skin, ridding it of all dirt, occasionally washing the washcloth out in the small bowl.

"I will draw in a bath for you," he spoke, turning on the faucet. "I suppose you don't have any other clothes with you, do you?"

She slowly shook her head.

"Thought so," he sighed. "Put your clothes in front of the bathroom door, once you took them off. I will wash and dry them for you. Do you need help in here?"

She shook her head. Levi, a man, helping her in the bathroom? No way.

He seemed to sense her thoughts. "Did you think _I_ was going to help you, brat?" he snapped. "Of course not. I would have called one of the girls. Here, the bath is ready. Washcloths and towels are over there. If you need anything, I'll be outside," he said bluntly. "I'll tell you when your clothes are ready. Now hurry up."

Levi walked out and closed the door behind him, waiting for her to give him her clothes.

Lucy took one quick glance at herself in the mirror before she finally took off her boots, her pants and her top, slightly opening the door to throw her clothes outside before locking the door. She slowly made her way over to the bathtub and climbed in, shortly closing her eyes as she felt the comfortably warm water against her cold and filthy skin. She sat there for a few minutes before taking the washcloth, ridding her body of the dirt and blood.

* * *

Levi waited for the washing machine to finish. He took a look around the washing room. It was untidy. _I'll have to clean this tomorrow..._ He walked over to the small sink and took a short glance at his reflection in the mirror above. The last day surely had done a number on him. His dark, straight locks were hanging down limply and livelessly, his face was paler than normal and he had dark rings around his grey eyes. Once he had taken care of the girl he would get himself some rest.

He heard the beeping of the washing machine and immediately pulled his cravat, his coat and the girl's clothes out to put everything in the dryer. He leaned against the counter and sighed, thinking about Lucy's reaction to him. She had truly looked frightened. He saw looks like that very often in other people's faces. He wondered. Was he really that scary? Well, it was true, he was pretty hard to be around because of his cold, dismissive behavior and his appearance normally caused people to avoid him – but he didn't do it to scare people away. It was more of a habit. He meant no harm to anyone.

He sighed again as he tied his cravat and pulled the rest of the clothes out of the dryer, heading toward his room.

* * *

Lucy sat on the bathtub with a towel wrapped around her body when she heard the gentle knock at the door.

"Lucy. I brought you your clothes," Levi said.

She walked over to the door and slightly opened it, taking the the clothes from his arms. She quickly slipped into them, feeling quite comfortable in her now clean skin and the freshly smelling clothes. Levi stood against the wall with his arms crossed. He looked up when he heard the door and watched her come out hesitantly. She had her arms wrapped around her body; she felt uneasy. Her waist was completely exposed, showing off her tenderly-hinted abs; the triangle top accentuated her full C cup. Her legs were only protected by her barely knee-high boots and her short pants accentuated her sinuous, broad hips.

_Not bad_, Levi thought, closely examining her from head to toe. He had never been a pervert and didn't look at women or girls for their asses or chests - but it didn't mean he had no interest in the sight of a nice body. Lucy's body was maybe a bit thin, but well-trained. _She has potential. She surely would have no problems in training_, he reasoned. After all, he had seen the strength lying within this rather delicate body.

Upon seeing the nervous look in Lucy's eyes, he sighed noisily. "At ease, you brat. I have no such interests," he said flatly, watching as she relaxed and slowly let her arms drop to her sides. "Finished?" he asked with his usual bored expression, but his brows furrowed when he looked at her tousled hair. "Wash your hair, you filthy brat."

_Filthy... brat..._ Somehow, those words made her sad. She lifted her head to look at Levi without really changing the empty expression in her face, watching his eyes widen ever so slightly as she firmly shook her head. She was too weak and didn't have the strength to wash her hair as well just now - but she didn't want him to help her either.

"Wasn't my order clear enough?" he said sharply.

Lucy didn't answer, but the sad look in her eyes was tugging at Levi's emotions – much to his dismay – and he sighed before motioning her to follow him inside the bathroom again. He grabbed some pillows from the couch in his room and lay them on the ground and against the bathtub.

"Sit here," he ordered, pointing to the pillows. "These are for your back, so it isn't pressed against the hard bathtub."

Walking over to the bathtub almost automatically, she obeyed. Levi sat on the edge of the tub, on the right side of her head. She watched as he striped a pair of rubber gloves over his small hands. He caught the look in her eyes.

"I don't want my hands to get dirty," he said, causing her to frown a bit. His gaze softened. "It's not that I'm disgusted with touching you. It's just more hygienic if I use these – for the both of us."

She nodded lightly, watching him turning on the faucet and carefully pulling the ribbons out of her hair. He wet her hair before pouring some shampoo into his palms. Lucy flinched when he moved his hands to her head which Levi noticed, pausing for a moment before reaching out again. He carefully touched her head and began to rub gently – he was so gentle that Lucy felt herself involuntarily relaxing and her shoulders drooping. She had never expected him to be so careful.

A relieved and satisfied sigh escaped Levi's lips; she had accepted his touch. _The first step is done_, he thought. He didn't want her to be afraid of him. He was oblivious to the fact that Lucy could hear his thoughts right now.

Lucy felt the warm water pouring over her hair. Levi gently placed one hand on her head to prevent the water from pouring into her eyes. Once finished, he carefully wrung out her chest-long hair before beginning to gently rub a towel over it.

"It will be getting quite warm today, so we won't need to use the hair dryer."

She nodded.

Levi lead her to his office again. "Sit on the couch," he said and she obeyed.

Lucy looked down on her half-naked self again. Levi noticed and wordlessly draped a blanket over her shoulders which she immediately wrapped around herself to cover her body.

"Medusa should be here any moment. She will take care of your wounds." He walked over to his desk and opened a drawer to pull out a spare comb before sitting down beside her on the couch.

Lucy couldn't help it; she simply felt uneasy at his closeness and nervously backed away a bit.

Levi gave her an annoyed look. "Don't be so nervous, you brat," he griped. "I thought I promised not to hurt you. Here. Let me comb you hair, so it won't get frizzy. I can't stand the sight of a girl with her hair undone." He bit his lip. _Dammit... I didn't mean to scare her._

Lucy shortly heard his thoughts and shuffled toward him again, causing Levi to give her a puzzled look. Her shoulders drooped as Levi carefully untangled her hair with his hands and gently combed it. Levi once again sighed in satisfaction at her now peaceful and calm sight.

"You sure have a lot of hair," he mumbled after he had finished. "But very neat." He carefully touched her hair again, noticing that she didn't flinch this time. "And it's already beginning to dry."

Lucy felt a bit livelier than before. It was as if the warm bath had given her new strength and she felt herself slowly leaving her state of apathy. She looked around the room more closely, analyzing every detail she could find. Levi noticed her change and watched her intensely. She felt the urge to say something. She had a strong feeling of gratefulness in her heart – gratefulness for this young man who was maybe scary, but had risked his own life and reputation in order to save her and took care of her now. Now that she knew his feelings a bit she felt somewhat safer. However, she shifted nervously under his intense gaze.

"Thank you..." she mumbled, voice barely audible.

Levi leaned in closer. "What?" he asked.

"I... I said, thank you," she answered a bit louder, though still uneasy.

He raised his eyebrows in question. "What for?"

"For... helping me... Thank you, sir," she said, nervously looking down.

Levi eyes widened at her words. Never had anyone thanked him - at least not with clear words. "It's okay. I'm in charge of you now, so I have to make sure you're alright."

Lucy nodded back. Her and Levi's eyes wandered to the door when they heard a knock.

"Come in," Levi said.

The woman from earlier, Medusa, stepped inside. "I brought someone. I told them to come later, but they wouldn't listen." She made room for the others to enter.

Lucy recognized the small unit that had saved her earlier. Her gaze wandered around and stopped when she recognized Eren and Armin; the latter was smiling widely at her. Eren seemed to be angry; his brows were furrowed and he made a somewhat pouty face. Once again she felt the fear in her when she looked at him, but she quickly shook it off, for something else was making her uneasy: She still didn't know what they _really_ wanted from her.

Levi pointed toward the people. "You may already know, but this is my unit. Not complete, though. You will meet the rest of them later."

Lucy slowly stood up, the blanket still wrapped tightly around her body. "What will you do now?" Lucy kept her voice close to a whisper.

Levi sensed Lucy's fear and mistrust. "They are all here to protect you from the Military Police. The MP can't hurt you as long as you stay within Death City's walls."

Lucy looked at Levi and backed away, shuffling toward the window since the door was blocked by all those people. "I heard what you said to those guards - you said you will bring me back to them... You want to do experiments with me, don't you?" It made her uneasy not to know exactly what his intentions were.

Levi stood up, walking toward her, calmingly reaching a hand out for her. "Calm down. I lied to them. No one here is going to hurt you."

Lucy tried to avoid his touch, but there was no escape for her. Levi was now standing in front of her, noticing how her breath came out in shaky gasps. She noticed how Eren - who had finally turned his gaze toward her - watched her with an almost shocked look at her reaction.

"I won't let you hurt me! I won't let _anyone_ hurt me - never! Never again!" Lucy nearly screamed.

Levi caged her with his arms, preventing her from escaping. "I lied. I'm not going to hurt you. I only said that to fool the MP guards. I promised to not let them get you - and I have no intention of breaking that promise."

Eren's eyes widened. He had never seen Levi acting so gentle and patient toward anyone. He looked around to find the others bearing the same surprised expression in their faces.

Lucy finally relaxed.

"You can stay with us until you recovered. After that you are free to do as you please," Levi spoke.

Lucy stared at him wide-eyed. "What...? But... I don't understand..."

"My intention was to get you of the MP's grip – and now that I achieved that goal you are a free person." Levi stepped away from her to give her some room to breathe.

Lucy gave him a puzzled expression. "You're letting me go?"

Levi nodded. "I have no use for you – but I don't want the Military Police to get what they want, either."

"But... they will come to look for me..."

Armin answered instead. "Maybe, but as long as we are here they can't hurt us," he explained, smiling.

Lucy noticed how the ravenette young woman was scowling at her and quickly looked away, still not believing what she had just heard.

Levi put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. "It's okay now. You are safe. So don't worry."

Lucy looked around the group. Apart from the ravenette and Eren all people were smiling warmly at her. She felt tears welling up in her eyes – tears of gratefulness, but she didn't allow them to spill over.

"Well then," a tall brunette spoke up. She looked at Lucy for a while before giving her a salute. "Welcome."

Lucy's eyes widened at the others doing the same.

"Welcome!" they called to her.

Lucy stared at them with glassy eyes before she finally caught herself and understood what was happening: They were accepting her in their middle. For the first time in her life she was _truly_ happy.

Medusa took a step forward. "We should take care of you now," she said softly before halting in her movements and staring wide-eyed at Lucy.

"What is it, Doctor Medusa?" Armin asked with a confused look.

It took a moment for Medusa until she finally gave Lucy a wide, soft smile. "Looks like my help isn't needed here. She can heal herself."

All eyes were on Lucy, watching her curiously.

"Go ahead, dear. Here you can use your powers freely and without restriction," Medusa said.

Lucy shifted nervously under those people's gazes, but she gave in and shortly closed her eyes. "_Wavelength of Redemption_," she said quietly, revealing her eyes now both glowing in a light blue color. Normally, smaller injuries would heal within seconds or minutes without the help of her wavelengths or - in more serious cases - only one eye would glow, but since her body needed to restore its own strength to mend all of her wounds, she had to use her full healing capacity.

Her cuts and bruises healed quickly and finally she felt a tugging at her shoulder blades as her wings repaired themselves, spreading to full length before the healing process was finally finished.

She looked around the others whose jaws had dropped as they moved their lips to form a single silent word: "Wow."

The only one completely unimpressed was Levi. In fact, he looked pissed. He pointed to the papers scattered around his floor.

"Look what you did!" he grumbled.

She looked at the papers on the floor and then at Levi. "Oh," she said, confused.

The others looked at each other before finally bursting into loud laughter, leaving Lucy completely puzzled. Eren was laughing, too, and even the ravenette couldn't suppress her smile.

"Get out, all of you! I need to clean this immediately!" Levi shoved his still laughing unit outside and grabbed Lucy's arm when she prepared to go as well. "Who said _you_ could leave? You will help me!"

Lucy didn't complain and obeyed. For the first time since her arrival, she felt relieved and did not even try to hide it.

Seeing her like this, Levi felt quite playful now. He looked at her body again, noticing how her pelvic bone was sticking out. "By the way," he began, causing her to halt in her movements and look up, "even for as short as you are you're way too skinny. You need to gain some weight."

However, he immediately regretted his words when he watched the girl's face fall into an almost sad-looking frown.

Lucy looked down at herself. It was true, she was not as well-trained as she had been used to be; she had lost some weight, though she didn't exactly know why - but _skinny_? "I'm not skinny," she mumbled, "and I'm only a few inches shorter than you."

She did not see the small smile tugging at Levi's lips.

_**A/N: Um, yeah, well... This chapter was long as well, I know - and there barely had been any Eren in it, but I promise he will be a lot more present in the next chapter since the next chapter will be about his interactions with Lucy. **_

_**About Levi's behavior: I promise he will have his normal personality in the next chapter. In this chapter he is really friendly, but I think it is understandable when you think of what Lucy had just gone through. Originally, I had Hanji taking care of her, but since she is not around at the moment and will arrive later, Levi had to do that. Levi even said it himself, he wanted to make sure that Lucy was alright since he is in charge of her now, so... I hope you understand his behavior here, I promise it will change in the next chapter xD Thanks for your understanding! **_

_**I may be doing some changes later on, also looking for grammar mistakes, so don't get confused when the chapter suddenly looks different xD Just as always, read, review, fav or not – just don't be too harsh with me.**_


	5. Chapter 5-1: Making Friends, Part 1

**Chapter 5.1: Making Friends, Part 1**

"Eren! Slow down!"

Eren stopped, waiting for Armin to catch up with him without turning around. He had just stormed off after another argument with Mikasa, concerning – of course – Lucy. His frown was even worse than before, his brows were furrowed and he made a dangerously pouty face.

Armin panted heavily. "Phew... I know you're angry, but you don't have to run like that."

Eren didn't answer. He rather waited until Armin had caught himself before he moved on with said blond following him.

"Hey, wait – you're heading back to DWMA?" Armin had just noticed how Eren was heading to the other side of the building rather than to the mess hall like he had originally intended to. He had hoped to meet Lucy there later. "But... I thought you wanted to talk to Lucy?!"

"No." Eren's voice sounded annoyed.

Armin gave him a puzzled look. "Why not?"

Eren suddenly stopped, causing Armin to bump into him from behind, before turning around to face the blond. "I don't want to. I think it's better to stay away from her."

Armin was obviously taken aback by that statement. "What?! But why? Why the sudden change of mind? I thought you wanted to get to know her better?!"

Eren looked away and dropped his head, his bangs covering his eyes. "Maybe Mikasa is right – we don't know who she is." With that being said, Eren moved on. The truth was, those words hurt him more than Armin could imagine.

"You're doing what Mikasa says? Since when? At least she saved our lifes! What are you going back to school for?" Upon noticing how the brunet didn't seem to listen, Armin became angry. "Hey! EREN!"

Eren turned around with a startled expression on his face. He had never seen his best friend so upset. "Armin...?"

"Why?"

Eren sighed. "I just don't want Mikasa to get on my nerves – that's why I'll stay away from her," he began before scowling again and glaring at Armin, "and she should better stay away from me. You can tell her that. If _you_ wanna be friends with her, I won't stop you. Besides, Mikasa's right – we don't know if we can trust her just yet. We all need to be careful."

"No... That's... that's not you, Eren... What's wrong with you? What's wrong with you?!"

Eren didn't have to look at Armin to know what expression the blond had in his face. It was true – he _wanted_ to become acquainted with Lucy, but he didn't want Mikasa to get in his way. And apart from that, he wasn't sure if Lucy would accept him. Actually, he wasn't even sure what he really wanted. Maybe Mikasa was right and Lucy was simply to dangerous to be around. Maybe it really was best to stay away from her. On the other hand, Mikasa was the one always too careful about everything – why did he even listen to her?

Eren had become so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed how Armin had angrily changed directions and stomped to the mess hall. When he turned around the blond had already been gone.

"Armin?" Eren's face fell into a sad expression. "What's wrong with me? I'm acting so weird right now... I'm so sorry, Armin..."

* * *

"That wasn't meant to be hurtful," Levi griped. "What I meant to say was that you don't seem to have eaten a lot for at least two or three weeks."

Lucy didn't answer. She just put the rest of the papers on his desk. He was right. She really had lost some weight and for some reason she couldn't remember how or why – and that fact made her angry. Since her arrival she had been trying to recover her memories on what had happened the last two or three weeks – but somehow they were blocked. It was more than frustrating.

"Hey, you brat, are you listening to me?" Levi stood in front of her with his arms crossed, giving her an irritated look.

She lifted her head with an almost desperate look in her eyes, causing him to sigh in annoyance.

"Stop pouting already. It won't work with me," he grumbled. "You can leave now. We're finished here. I have some work to do."

Lucy's eyes widened in fear. "Wait... Do I... have to leave now?"

Levi turned to face her, giving her an irritated look. "Are you deaf? What did I just tell you?"

"I see..." She smiled sadly. Of course. Now that she had recovered, he didn't want her in Death City anymore. "But... you saved me. I can't just leave and let the Military Police take revenge on you..." She turned to leave.

Levi's eyes widened in understanding and he gave her a startled look before grabbing her shoulder. "I meant you can leave my office now," he explained, "not Death City."

"Huh?" Lucy gave him a puzzled look. "But... you said..."

"Tch... No 'buts'. I have the slight feeling you didn't listen to me earlier," he said with an annoyed tone in his voice. He sighed heavily. "I said you are free to do _as you please_ after you have recovered. You can stay in Death City or leave Death City – it's up to you to decide."

"I... I'm not sure yet..."

"You don't have to decide right now," Levi responded gently. "You can take this day to overthink your decision – there is not really a need to rush."

Lucy nodded. She felt relieved, but also uneasy. "Where should I go now?" she asked.

Levi turned around to face her again. "Go find the others. You can find them scattered around here or at DWMA. It's not too far away – you can walk there. They can show you around. I will take care of everything for you later."

Lucy looked down at herself. She was still wearing nothing but her rather revealing clothes, accentuating her chest and the sinuous hips she had always hated and exposing her waist and legs. "Um..."

"What?" Levi raised his eyebrows in question.

"Nothing..." She turned to leave.

He understood. "Wait here," he sighed, heading towards the door.

Lucy waited, feeling a bit queasy. _What's he up to? Where is he going?_ She thought for a moment. She wasn't able to read his mind anymore – his thoughts were really hard to read. He had an incredibly strong mind. He seemed to have built a wall around him, holding off any possible intrudor – as if he didn't want anyone to get close to him. But she had seen another side of him, too, and she was sure he was angry he had shown her that much of himself - she had noticed that he wasn't as friendly toward her now as he had been before.

Levi on the other hand quickly made his way to his room, opening his wardrobe to search through his clothes until he finally pulled something out. It was a hooded sweat jacket in the dark green color of the Survey Corps' uniform cape. It had the "Wings of Freedom", the Survey Corps' icon, on its back. He noticed he had this jacket twice.

_Hm... I only wore that once. I didn't even know I still had that._ _This will do._

Lucy looked up when she heard the door open. Levi handed her a dark green jacket.

"Here. You can have that one," he spoke. "You're not much shorter than me, so it should fit you."

"But... sir, that's..." she started.

"What?"

"The icon... I don't belong to..."

"Your point?" Levi asked with his usual bored expression. "You should rather worry about your wings. They won't fit with the jacket – they're too big. And don't even think about ripping a whole into my jacket."

She looked at her freshly regrown pair of whitish, faintly lilac wings protruding from her shoulder blades, then back at Levi who watched her interestedly. She lightly flapped them before contracting them to tiny feathered stumps.

Levi nodded in approval. "Not bad," he mumbled, trying not to chuckle at those almost cute-looking tiny wings, but then his brows furrowed when she turned her back on him: It was still bruised. "What's this?"

She turned around and gave him a puzzled expression.

"Turn around."

She understood and touched her back, immediately flinching - she still had some bruises on it. Bruises didn't heal as fast as other injuries. "It's not that bad, sir..."

Levi cocked his eyebrows at her. "But it still hurts, doesn't it?"

She looked down. "A bit..."

Levi maybe was annoyed about the fact he had shown her his caring and vulnerable side, but nonetheless, he cared about her since she was now indirectly part of his unit.

"Just be careful, understood, brat?"

"Yes, sir."

Lucy finally slipped her arms through the jacket's sleeves, draping it over her shoulders. She immediately felt the comfortable warmth it offered her and couldn't help but feeling safe when she realized that this jacket had once been worn by Levi – the strong young man who had saved her from the Military Police. Unconsciously, she snuggled into the piece of cloth.

Levi had to suppress his urge to smile at her serene, relieved sight.

"Thank you, sir," she said, slightly bowing before him, before jumping up again to correct herself. "That was wrong." She brought her right fist to her heart and gave him a perfect salute. "Thank you, sir!" she repeated, this time in a firm voice.

"Stop calling me 'sir' – it's really annoying," Levi answered bluntly, suppressing another smile tugging at his lips. "That salute was more than perfect."

For the first time since her arrival she smiled, even though it seemed shy, and nervously played with her fingers. "Um... Well, I know it from my dad – we salute in our family as well. I don't know why, though..."

"I see." Levi breathed out a quiet, content sigh. Of course he had noticed her smile. She seemed to slowly recover from her shock.

"Thank you. I will return the jacket to you as soon as..." she started, but she was interrupted by Levi raising his hand.

"Keep it. I never really wore it. I have another one of those. You can have them both if you want. But be careful with them and don't get them dirty," he added sharply.

"Yes."

"Good. Oh, I forgot..." Levi came a bit closer. He reached into his pocket before holding out his open hand to her. "Your hair ribbons." He raised his eyebrows as he noticed that she didn't flinch or back away. _Good - she didn't try to avoid me._

She took them. "Thank you."

"Now get the fuck out. I need to get some rest."

She squeaked quietly and quickly left the office, closing the door behind her. She confusedly looked down the hallway expanding to her right. Levi's office was at the end of the hallway, so she only had one direction to go and started walking.

_Where should I go?_, she wondered. She thought of Eren and Armin. _I never thanked them for helping me. I should go look for them._

She zipped up the jacket to hide her waist and put her hair ribbons into the pockets. She remembered the route Levi had taken when he had brought her here, so she followed the hallways toward the courtyard.

_Where should I look for them first? Hm... The mess hall seems closer... Wait, I don't even know where the mess hall is! I should ask someone... But where are they?_

She rubbed her head with both hands as she tried to calm herself down. The last thing she needed now was herself beginning to panic. She could always return to Levi's office and ask for help – even though said boy would most likely bite her head off, but she didn't care. What if she didn't find his office again? No! She would find it, the way there was not too difficult. She hoped she would find someone who was willing to help her.

She took the last corner and stepped through the door onto the courtyard. She smelled the fresh air and took in a deep breath. The courtyard looked even more welcoming in the sunlight. It was a rather big one, surrounded by the HQ building and a few planted trees. There were a few benches placed at its edges. Judging from the marks on the ground, the courtyard was also used as a training ground.

Just as she looked around she found the first of the persons she was looking for: Eren was standing in the shadow of the trees in the far right corner. He talked to a girl sitting on a bench in front of him. Lucy recognized the ravenette from earlier and felt her heart sink. That girl surely held a grudge against her. She didn't even understand why. She didn't know her at all. She pondered on what to do.

_What's the big deal?_, she asked herself. _I only want to say thank you and then I'll leave him alone... Yes, that's it! I'll thank him and leave him alone again..._

She felt her body trembling and tensing while looking at Eren. At the same time, the cross pendant on her chest started to vibrate, the vibration slowly growing stronger as if it tried to warn her about something. She really didn't know what it was about that boy that caused her to panic inwardly - but on the other hand, she felt herself being pulled toward him due to the bond she had already created with him... After a moment, she gathered her courage and walked over to the two of them. When she came closer she noticed that Eren seemed even angrier than before.

The ravenette looked at him almost worried. "I just want you to stay out of trouble. I don't want you to get hurt because of anyone," she said.

"Yeah, whatever, Mikasa. Just leave me alone." Eren looked away and didn't seem to notice Lucy. However, the ravenette – Mikasa – did and started glaring at her. "I will stay away from her, but not because you want me to," Eren said. "It's because I don't want to get involved with her. I have enough problems already – I don't need her to cause more of them. And most importantly, I don't want _you_ to get on my nerves."

Lucy realized they were talking about her and felt her heart sink once more. She was ready to turn around and leave, but she didn't want to. All she wanted was to say thank you and then leave. That was her plan after all, right? She gulped nervously and shyly tugged at Eren's sleeve, causing the brunet to turn around.

When he did so she saw his eyes widen ever so slightly before his scowl worsened and he glared at her as well. "What?" he asked in voice so sharp that she involuntarily flinched.

She took a few steps back and nervously looked down. "I... uh..."

"What is it already?" Eren griped, towering before her, crossing his arms.

"I... um..." Lucy lost her words completely when she saw Mikasa standing up and claiming a spot next to Eren. "I just..." She lost her determination. "Uh... it's nothing... I'm sorry..."

"Why did you even bother to speak up, then? If you don't have anything to say then leave me alone. I have more important things to do."

His cold voice cut into her heart and she felt panic rise in her once more. She backed away.

"And one more thing," Eren spoke. "I don't want to be friends with you if that's what you think."

Lucy suddenly felt a burst of anger rise in her. She felt the urge to defend herself and jerked her head up to look at the brunet. "I don't want to be friends with you," she said, causing the brunet's eyes to widen. She regretted her words, but for the moment she didn't care. "I just wanted to say something, but since you wouldn't listen I'll leave it be."

"I was going to listen to you," Eren snapped, "but you didn't say anything."

"Because you didn't give me a chance to," Lucy countered, though her voice sounded shaky and insecure.

Mikasa shot daggers with her eyes at her while Eren frowned dangerously and his brows furrowed again, this time deeper. "Whatever. I don't care. I have better things to do – and you better leave me alone. Just stay away from me."

"Stay away from Eren," Mikasa whispered threateningly.

"I will. I'm sorry." Lucy bowed slightly before them before finally turning around, walking away from them. She heard some voices behind her.

"Wow, Eren, you surely know how to treat a girl," a voice said in a sarcastic tone.

"Shut up!" Eren yelled.

Lucy walked as fast as she could. Her whole body trembled in fear and she suddenly felt tears welling up in her eyes. She felt Eren watching her, but she didn't bother to turn around. She had just made her _master_ angry - and she didn't even know how...

* * *

Eren still stood in the same position as before, his eyes wide in shock. "What... just happened...?" he stammered. "

He still couldn't believe what he had just done. He had just hurt this poor girl for no reason. He didn't even know why he had suddenly felt this anger inside him. He simply had had the feeling he didn't want to talk to anyone. He hadn't meant to get _that_ mean. He had been so shocked about Lucy's statement that he had simply snapped. And all because of Mikasa – only because he didn't want her to interfere with his decisions, to leave him alone. For the first time in his life he felt _really_ angry. He turned to face Mikasa who was watching him worriedly.

"Eren? Are you okay?" she asked in a soft voice.

"You... This is all your fault!" Eren grabbed her by her shoulders, causing her to yelp in fright. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, MIKASA!" he screamed.

Mikasa's eyes widened. "Why...?"

"Why? WHY?! You seriously ask, why?! You always interfere with my own business, you always think you have to protect me and don't even bother to give me a chance to prove myself, you always, _always_ treat me like I was still a child! I'M NOT A CHILD, MIKASA, AND I DON'T NEED YOUR PROTECTION!"

The others surrounding Eren and Mikasa flinched at his raised voice.

"It's not my fault if you let yourself control by your feelings. You didn't have to be..." Mikasa started.

"SHUT UP!" Eren yelled, immediately silencing her. "I can do what I want and I will do what I want! And don't you ever, _ever_ dare to get in my way again!"

"Oi, what are you brats doing here? You're so noisy."

Levi was standing behind Eren. He had heard the commotion in the courtyard and decided to take a look at the situation. He watched Eren with an almost worried look and noticed how Mikasa glared at him. She had always hated him for beating up Eren, even though it had been necessary in order to save his life.

Eren was still grabbing Mikasa's shoulders. He tightened his grip, causing the ravenette to actually yelp in pain.

"Eren." Levi stepped behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Let go," he spoke gently.

Eren's eyes widened when his hands seemed to move on their own, slipping off Mikasa's shoulders. Said ravenette rubbed at them.

_What's happening?_

He suddenly felt himself relaxing under Levi's touch. Somehow, the comforting hand on his shoulder and the presence of his superior made him feel calm. Strangely enough, he normally felt the exact opposite in Levi's presence.

Levi felt Eren's muscles release their tension – but his hand never left the brunet's shoulder. "What happened here? Where is Lucy?"

Eren didn't answer. He bit his lower lip in regret.

"Not going to tell me, you brat, eh?" Levi squeezed his shoulder comfortingly before finally letting it go. "Whatever it is, go fix it. Now." He returned to his office. _That brat..._

Eren watched him in shock. Levi had just calmed him down. Levi had just touched his shoulder in a comforting way. He had never done anything like that before. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and pondered on what to do next. Should he talk to Lucy?

* * *

Lucy stopped once she was inside the building again. In deep though, she tried to control her breathing coming out in shaky gasps. Was that girl Eren's girlfriend or something? If she was, it really was best to stay away from Eren. Somehow, the thought of that made her sad and she didn't even know why. Maybe because she knew he wouldn't need her help if he already had a girlfriend - but what kind of servant would she be if she couldn't get close to her master? On the other hand, he had given her a command: He wanted her to stay away from him - and she would obey.

She wrapped her arms tightly around her trembling body and walked around the corner, not noticing the person in front of her until she bumped into them.

"I'm sorry!" she said, squeezing her eyes shut in expect of the possible following bluster.

"Oh no, it's okay," an incredibly soft voice said. "Are you okay?"

She opened her eyes and looked up at said person. It was a rather tall blonde-haired boy with intense cobalt blue eyes... She recognized him: She had seen this boy in Levi's memories, though he surely was older now. He was wearing a priest's robe and a pair of earphones, vibrating from the loud music coming from them. She was surprised he had even heard her apology.

She finally nodded to answer his question.

"You surely look a little lost. A lost little lamb searching for its flock."

Her eyes widened when she noticed how his friendly smile changed into a creepy-looking smirk.

"My lost little lamb, let me help set your soul free," he said in a creepy voice.

Lucy turned on her heel and ran as fast as she could, leaving the boy behind rather confusedly.

He scratched the back of his head. "My, my – I was just going to show her the way out... Hm... Am I really that scary? Oh well... I should work more on my tactfulness," he mumbled while returning to his room.

She walked further on until she felt safe and lounged against the wall. Once more she had to control her breathing. _What the hell was that?!_, she wondered.

She felt someone watching her and looked up. It was a girl, about her height, with crystal blue eyes and short light blonde hair, tied to a knot. She was wearing a pair of black trousers and a gray hooded sweatshirt. She recognized the girl from earlier – she was also part of Levi's unit.

"You okay?" the blonde asked, watching her intensely. She must have caught the strange look in Lucy's eyes.

Upon seeing the calm look in her eyes, she slowly relaxed. "Yes... I think so..."

The girl's eyes narrowed. "Sure?"

She nodded.

"Sure you don't need anything?" the blonde asked seemingly without any emotion, though Lucy could hear the slight concern in her voice.

She thought for a moment. She still hadn't thanked Eren – but said boy was clearly mad at her. However, Armin was still left... "Actually, there is something... Can... can you help me?"

The girl turned around. "Yes?"

"I'm looking for... for Armin..." she said shyly. "Do you know where he is?"

The blonde nodded. "Follow me," she said flatly.

She was lead through the hallways and downstairs until the blonde stopped in front of a double wing door and opened it. Lucy realized this was the mess hall. Tables and benches were lined up neatly at the sides and behind them a buffet table was set up in front of a window-like hole; she supposed the room behind it was the kitchen. The mess hall was almost completely empty; only two people were sitting at a table in the far left corner. She recognized one of the persons as Armin. The other one was a tall boy with light ash-brown hair. She recognized him, too, but she didn't know his name yet.

"There he is," the blonde said, pointing toward the two people.

"Thank you," Lucy said.

The blonde nodded. "Do you need anything else?" she asked bluntly.

"No, thanks."

The blonde left the room, leaving a rather helpless Lucy behind. She felt uneasy – what if Armin would reject her, too? It didn't matter. She had to thank them – it was her duty. The two boys didn't even know her, yet they had saved her. Once again she gathered up her courage and walked down the steps toward Armin's table. The boys didn't seem to notice her, but she could follow their conversation.

"He did _what_?!" Armin asked angrily.

"Yeah, it was really creepy," the other boy responded. "First, he yelled at her and then he was angry at Mikasa – it was really strange. I don't even understand what his problem was."

_They're talking about me, too..._, she realized sadly. However, their conversation sounded completely different than the one of Mikasa and Eren before.

"I mean, the girl didn't do anything to him, did she? Jaeger can be really creepy, but I've never seen him acting _that_ strange..."

"He's angry because Mikasa always tries to keep him out of any possible trouble. Sometimes even I don't understand her. It's not only that she treats Eren like that – she's acting like that toward me, too. Okay, I'm not as strong as the others, but still..."

The other boy guided his eyes toward her as he noticed her standing behind them. "Armin," he said.

"What?" Armin asked.

Lucy nervously stepped forward and lightly tugged at Armin's shirt. The blond turned around to face her. At first, he scowled, but his frown soon disappeared to make room for a warm, happy smile.

"Oh, hey!" he said, standing up to greet her. "It's good to see you're better."

Lucy's tensed shoulders drooped and she relaxed. All her fears of being rejected had just disappeared. The other boy jumped up and stumbled to introduce himself. He stared at her wide-eyed and with his jaw dropped, holding out his hand for her to shake.

"Um... It's Jean. Jean Kirstein. Nice to meet you," he said. Lucy could see a blush creeping up his cheeks. "I don't think I heard _your_ name before..."

She shook his hand and smiled shyly. "It's Lucy. Nice to meet you, too."

"Sorry, Jean is always shy around girls," Armin managed to say through his chuckles.

Jean glared at him. "I'm not!" he griped, causing Armin to laugh. "Oh, whatever..." He looked at Lucy and chuckled awkwardly. "Heh, well... It was nice to meet you. Maybe we'll see each other later," he added, winking at her.

"See you later, Jean!" Armin called, watching as Jean waved at him, before turning to Lucy. "He was called to DWMA for something – I don't know exactly what, though," he explained.

Lucy nodded.

Armin looked at her with a serious expression. "He told me what happened in the courtyard."

Lucy's face fell into a sad expression. "I seem to have done something wrong..." she reasoned.

Armin's eyes grew wide. "What?! No! Of course not! It wasn't your fault. Eren can be strange and creepy sometimes, but normally he doesn't mean it. Maybe it's because of Mikasa - he hates her over-protective nature."

"I see." Her face looked even sadder than before. _So she really is his girlfriend..._ He wouldn't need her, then. So that was why he didn't want her to get close to him.

Armin seemed to sense her mood; he touched her shoulder and shook it gently. "It's really not your fault. Don't worry, he'll calm down. Hey, wait – has anyone shown you around yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Fine, then we can do that right away." Armin smiled at her. "Come on. First, I'll show you the place and then I'll introduce you to the others, okay?"

"Okay." Lucy followed Armin toward the door.

"Hey," he suddenly said, turning around to face her and smiling at her. "I'm glad that you survived and made it here. It's nice to have you here. I'm pretty sure the others will like you."

"I hope so..." Lucy couldn't help but smiling at Armin. She was glad that he accepted her.

"They will. Come on – let's get started, shall we?"

"Yes," Lucy replied, following him outside.

_**A/N: Well, that was part one of the two-part chapter 5. I had to split it up, because it would have been twice as long as the previous chapters, but I didn't want to shorten it because wanted Lucy to meet the others personally, so there wouldn't be a gap between the chapters – I hope that's okay for you. **_

_**I hope you enjoyed it, anyway xD. Next part will be uploaded soon. As always, follow, review and fav!**_


	6. Chapter 5-2: Making Friends, Part 2

**Chapter 5.2: Making Friends, Part 2**

_**A/N: Well, here's the second part. This chapter is a bit longer than the others, so there will be a third part... Sorry! BUT for your comfort: There will finally be some action in Chapter 6.**_

"Well, I think that's it for now," Armin spoke. He had just finished showing Lucy the headquarters. "You already know where the mess hall is – or do you want me to walk you there again, just to be sure?"

"No, I think I got it," Lucy answered a bit unsure which Armin seemed to sense.

He laughed. "You can always ask someone in case you're not sure. Okay, the only rooms left now are the dorms. Come on – let's introduce you to the others! Ready?"

She gave him a puzzled look and cocked her head. Why did he sound so excited? "Yes," she said plainly. She followed him up two flights of stairs into another hallway. She recognized it. "Wait... This is..."

"Right, Levi's office is located here as well," Armin pointed out. "Well spotted." He stopped in front of the first door. "We'll just go through the row here." He knocked, but no one answered. "Well, let's just go in," the blond muttered, opening the door.

Lucy blinked a few times. The room behind the door looked bright and friendly with its light blue colored walls and was very neat; it was illuminated by the sunlight shining through a large window across from the door. A desk and a chair stood underneath it. A bed was pushed against the right wall and a large wardrobe stood against the left one, right next to the door. Except a small crucifix hanging above the bed, the light blue walls were empty.

"Justin! JUSTIN! HEY, I WANT YOU TO MEET SOMEONE!" Armin suddenly yelled, waving his arms wildly.

Lucy gave him a puzzled expression, but she immediately understood when she took a closer look. She hadn't realized that someone was sitting on the chair in front of the desk. Strangely enough, she recognized the person... It was the blonde-haired boy from earlier.

"JUSTIN!" Armin grabbed the boy's earphones, causing said boy to give him a startled and confused look.

"Oh hey! It's nice to see you, Armin!"

"Finally..." Armin mumbled under his breath. "I'd like to make an introduction."

Justin stood up and turned around to face Lucy who still hadn't entered the room. His eyes lit up in realization; he seemed to recognize her. He shot her a reassuring smile and came walking toward her.

Feeling a bit uneasy, she took a few steps back, causing Justin to shoot her startled and regretting look.

"Lucy, this is Justin. Justin Law. Justin, that's Lucy. She is the one who landed in front of Wall Sina and is now chased by the Military Police. She will stay with us now," Armin introduced, smiling. "Justin is a Death Scythe – well, if you know what..."

Lucy nodded. "Of course." She gave him a faint smile.

"We've already met – and I think I have left a bad impression on you," Justin mumbled, shooting her an apologetic look. "I'm truly sorry, I really didn't mean to scare you earlier." He came a bit closer.

Lucy managed an unsure faint smile. "No, no, that's okay. I... I think I just overreacted. I'm sorry for that..."

"Oh no, you don't have to apologize! I can be very creepy sometimes. I understand." Justin smiled at her.

Actually, he wasn't creepy at all. He had just given her a fright. She took a closer look at him. He wasn't wearing his robe anymore; he was dressed rather casually with his white hooded shirt and jeans and he was walking barefoot.

He offered her his hand. "So you are indeed the one everyone is talking about," he pointed out. "It's a pleasure and an honor to meet a true angel in person."

Lucy shook his hand and looked down awkwardly. "I'm not a real angel..." she whispered, hoping he wouldn't hear it.

But he did. "Is there really such a difference if you are created or born? Angel is angel, so – it's a pleasure."

Her eyes widened. _He knows, too?!_ Seeing the warm, soft smile the cobalt blue-eyed boy gave her, she relaxed a bit.

"Let's go on," Armin said. "See you later, Justin."

"Later," Justin said, smiling and waving at the two of them. "See you later – Lucy."

"Um... yes!" Lucy answered quickly, closing the door behind her and following Armin to the next room.

* * *

"Only two rooms left... or rather just one..." Armin said after he had finished introducing Lucy and showing her the rooms of Bertolt and Reiner, Connie and Sasha, Ymir and Krista, Mikasa and Annie and his own and Jean's room.

Not all of them had been as friendly as Justin, but Lucy was glad that they at least accepted her.

All the rooms looked pretty much the same: A bed was pushed against the wall on either side of the door; a large wardrobe stood against the left wall, right behind the bed; a door was located on the right side, leading to the bathroom and a desk with two chairs stood against the wall across from the door, right under a large window.

However, every room was equipped with its own special. For example, a large bookshelf, like in Armin's and Jean's room.

"I like your books," Lucy said. "You have an interesting collection."

Armin turned around, smiling widely. "Really? Well, you can borrow some of them whenever you want to."

"I would love to."

"That's fine with me. Just tell me."

"The rooms are very tidy."

"Yeah, it's because of Levi. He's kinda obsessive about cleaning, so once every week he comes to take a look at our rooms – and today is the day again."

"I see..." Lucy made a thoughtful face. "Why are Connie and Sasha allowed to share a room?"

"Oh, Levi isn't as strict as some people think. Besides, he trusts us – Connie and Sasha have been friends for a long time now. Friends and not more – Levi knows they won't do anything... well, compromising."

"Sounds plausible. Who is left now?" Her thoughts trailed off as she felt the cross-shaped pendant on her chest vibrating. She'd had that feeling before... _He's close!_

"Um..." Armin gave her a worried expression, pointing to the door next to him. "This... is Eren's room..."

Lucy's eyes widened in fear and she backed away.

Armin waved his hands in front of him in defense. "Oh no, don't worry! He isn't even there..."

"Armin? Is that you?" a muffled voice called from inside.

The blond and the dark brunette flinched at the same time and looked at each other frantically. Armin placed a finger on his lips, signalizing Lucy to keep calm and quiet. She could hear footsteps behind the door, slowly coming closer, and panicked.

"Armin?" Eren asked again.

Armin shoved Lucy around the corner just as the door opened. He himself hadn't had time to shuffle out of Eren's visual range; instead, he signalized Lucy to stay hidden. The latter, of course, obeyed. She didn't want to run into Eren.

"Oh... Hey, Eren..." Armin said.

Eren noticed something was off and gave Armin a puzzled expression. "Are... you okay?"

The blond nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." He was calm, but Eren sensed something.

"Okay..." Eren wasn't convinced, but he decided to let it slip for now. He came closer. "Armin, listen... I'm really sorry about earlier. I think I was just... confused... I didn't know what to do," he told his best friend honestly. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, you mean... Oh no, that's okay, really."

Eren sighed in relief, but Armin's behavior was more than suspicious. "Why are you so nervous?" he questioned, cocking his eyebrows at the blond. "Hopefully not because of me." He chuckled before his face fell into serious expression again. "Who have you been talking to?"

Armin tensed. "First, I'm not nervous at all and second, I haven't been talking to anyone," he replied in a firm voice, though this time it sounded a bit shaky which Eren noticed.

Eren knew his best friend too well – he was lying. "I'm sure I heard someone..."

Armin gave him an innocent look and shrugged. "No, it was just me. Maybe I was in thoughts or something. No one else here." Lucy praised him for staying so calm while lying to his best friend.

Eren remained suspicious, so he chose to set a trap for the blond. "Okay, if you say so... Besides, have you seen Lucy anwhere? I was looking for her, but she was nowhere to be found – as if she's avoiding me..."

Lucy flinched, the cross on her chest now vibrating and throbbing angrily and its icy purple stone glowing brightly. She had to cover it with her hand to not give away her position. _He's looking for me?! I must have done something wrong again!_

Armin's brows suddenly furrowed and he glared at Eren. "You don't seriously puzzle _why_ she would be avoiding you, do you?" he snapped. "Jean told me everything."

Eren's face fell. "So you've heard it, too. No, I really don't." He smiled sadly and looked down for a while before he spoke up again. "Could you do me a favor?"

Armin's gaze softened. "Yeah, of course. What is it?"

"When you see her, tell her I'm looking for her, okay?"

Armin nodded. "Okay," he responded gently. Eren was his best friend, after all.

"Thank you, Armin." Eren stood in silence for a few moments before he finally turned around to close the door behind him. But instead of returning to his bed, he pressed his ear against the door and waited.

* * *

Armin took a deep breath. "Phew... It's okay, you can come out now."

Lucy barely managed to keep her trembling knees steady. The whole time during the conversation, she had fevered and trembled along with Armin. She had the strange feeling that Eren was eavesdropping, but she rather didn't tell the blond.

"Are you okay?" the two of them asked each other in unison before chuckling softly and nodding.

"What's wrong with your pendant?"

"It's trying to warn me – I don't know why, though..." she explained, watching Armin nod thoughtfully.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," he mumbled under his breath. "I'm not a good liar, but at least I managed to shake him off."

"Says who?"

Lucy jumped as Armin jerked around. Eren poked his head through the slightly opened door. Armin was standing right in front of Lucy, so she hadn't been able to see the door open.

Eren smiled. "I knew you were lying to me." His eyes widened when he noticed who was standing behind Armin. "Lucy..." he said.

Lucy started to tremble and backed away when she noticed that Eren slowly came out of his room. She spun on her heel and ran as fast as she could.

"Lucy, wait!" Armin shouted, following her.

"Hey, wait! I just... Damn!" Eren's face once more fell into a sad expression as he ran after them. "Dammit – where'd they go?" He started searching the hallways.

* * *

"Damn it, he's following us!" Armin spoke through gritted teeth. "We hide in here!" He opened a door and shoved Lucy inside before following and closing it behind him. He looked through the small window. "We wait until he's gone."

They were standing in a back staircase. The lights were out, so it was rather dark. Lucy was standing right next to Armin, once again feeling the steady vibration of her pendant. She could see Eren walking past the door, looking around confusedly. She almost felt bad, but she was afraid he would yell at her again. He had given her the order to stay away from him and she had to obey.

She looked at Armin for a while. "Why did you help me?" she asked. "I mean... you're his friend, aren't you?"

Armin gave her puzzled expression, but then his eyes lit up in realization and he smiled at her warmly. "But I'm your friend, too."

Her eyes widened. "You're my... friend?" she repeated, her voice laced with disbelief.

Armin started to panic. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to... I'm sorry if I was too brash..."

"No, that's okay! I'm just... confused. I never really had friends," she explained, looking down in shame.

"I see... Well, I want to be your friend – and I'm sure Eren, too. You two just had a bad start. And I helped you because you are new here and frightened and I know how creepy he can be." Armin was still smiling at her.

She couldn't help but smiling back. For the first time in her life she felt happy and safe because she knew Armin meant it; all the while, she had been able to hear his thoughts and they had been the same as his words. People normally avoided or rejected her because she was different, so she didn't know what it meant to have true friends – maybe she would get a chance to find out now.

"Oh, reminds me, you haven't met the others at Shibusen yet. But Levi says it's better if you meet them later after you got used to us all. Maybe he's right."

Lucy simply nodded. She knew there was no need for words at the moment.

"Okay, I think we're okay now. Let's go. Stay behind me, in case he's still there."

She obeyed and stayed closely behind the blond as he carefully stepped into the hallway again, looking right and left before signalizing Lucy that the coast was clear. She followed him, sighing in relief along with him as they noticed the hallway was empty. However, when they looked around the next corner they saw Eren walking down the hallway with his back toward them.

They quickly changed directions, Lucy now in front of Armin who shoved her forward to the next door.

"Here, take this door!"

Lucy obeyed and yanked the door open, letting herself and Armin in, before they both slammed the door shut. Both of them leaned against the door and panted heavily until Lucy had the strange feeling they weren't alone. She looked up and her heart nearly stopped beating as she met a pair of dark grey eyes watching her.

Her eyes grew wide as she looked at Captain Levi sitting on his bed, his belt undone, shirtless, showing off his toned arms, chest and stomach. Seeing his muscular body was too much to bear for her maiden heart.

Levi gave Lucy an almost bored stare, although it seemed a little pissed. "Oi, you brats," he spoke clearly and sharply. "What are you doing?"

A few moments passed in silence before the silence was abruptly broken.

"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

Levi's eyes widened in surprise and he covered his ears at the loud scream emerging from Lucy's and Armin's throat. He noticed that Lucy's sounded particularly polyphonic and high-pitched, as if she was screaming with more than one voice, and after her voice had gone quiet, another sound filled the room; the sound of shattering glass and groaning and wood and metal.

Levi's eyes widened even more along with Lucy's when he felt the whole room trembling and glass shards touching his back, but he hadn't time to look around as he watched Lucy running after Armin who had already yanked the door open. He heard their footsteps clanging in the hallway as they ran down it in fear.

He quickly followed them to the doorway, but he was too late. "Hey! I asked you a question, you brats!" he yelled after them. He looked down the now empty hallway in puzzlement. "Tch... Such noisy brats," he grumbled.

* * *

Eren spun on his heel as soon as he heard the screams and the sound of shattering glass.

"Levi! Are you okay?! What's wrong?!" he shouted, but he immediately froze.

His turquoise eyes met the dark grey ones of a half-naked Levi standing in the hallway. His eyes widened as he guided them to said boy's toned stomach. He felt his cheeks heating up by a growing blush and quickly averted his gaze. _What the hell?! But nice body, anyway..._

"Ask those two noisy brats," Levi answered bluntly, noticing the brunet's embarrassment. "What is it, Jaeger?" He noticed Eren's slight blush before it faded away again. _Cute_, he thought to himself. _I didn't take him to be so shy._

"Nothing..." Eren's head suddenly jerked up. "Wait, ask who?"

"Arlert and Bellona."

"Where did they go?" Eren questioned, suddenly excited and hopeful.

Levi cocked his eyebrows at him, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he pointed in the direction, watching as Eren ran down the hallway as well. "Eren!"

The brunet almost slipped on the floor as he stopped all of sudden. He turned around. "Yes?"

"If you find them, tell them to come to my office. At once."

Eren nodded before he finally disappeared around the corner. Levi was left behind rather puzzled. _What's going on here?_ He blinked a few times in confusion before he rubbed his ears. _Damn, did they really have to scream so loud?_

He froze. _Why did they scream anyway? I'm really not that scary – am I?_ Somehow, the thought of that made Levi sad and he looked down with somber eyes for a few moments. He sighed noisily as he walked back in and closed the door behind him.

He snapped out of his thoughts immediately when he felt something sharp cut into his naked foot. He winced in pain, resulting in him losing his balance. He fell over and cut his hand on the scattered glass shards as he tried to catch his fall, keeping himself steady.

"Shit... That actually hurt," he grumbled.

He looked down at his bloody hand and foot. The cuts were deep. He would have to bandage them later. He slowly stood up, careful not to step on the shards again, grimacing in disgust when he saw the blood on the floor. "Tch..." he snorted.

However, his eyes caught sight of something else and widened in surprise as he looked around his almost completely destroyed room. The window and the lamp on his nightstand were both shattered, the wooden planks on the floor and his bed were deformed and bent.

He balled his uninjured hand into a fist. Now he was actually pissed. "What the fuck is that girl?! A fucking banshee?!" He finally put on his shirt and hobbled into the bathroom to get the first aid kit. "Wait until I grab hold of you, brat!" he grumbled, his voice dangerously close to a growl.

* * *

"Damn, we're so dead..." Armin mumbled under his breath, clutching at his chest, panting heavily.

Lucy wrapped her arms around her trembling body. _That scream... Was that me?_ The pendant vibrated weakly, signalizing her that Eren was somewhere.

"Damn, have you seen that?!"

Lucy's head jerked up. "You saw it, too, didn't you?"

"Of course! I mean – I've never seen Captain Levi half-naked... Damn, that was too shocking! I'll never get this out of my head..." He shook his head and rubbed at it.

Lucy looked at him in confusion. "You didn't...?" she started, but she let her words trail off. She decided to not poke this matter any further. Somehow, Armin hadn't seen what she had done with her scream and maybe it was better that way. "I'm sorry... I seem to bring bad luck..."

Armin was seemingly taken aback by that statement. "What?! No, you're not! It's my fault. Normally, he would be in his office at that time, but today everything's different – I should have known that."

Lucy looked down. "He said he wanted to get some rest. I should have warned you."

"But you didn't really know that this was his room. So, it's really not your fault." Armin smiled. "Come on, let's go."

Lucy followed him once more as he guided her through the hallways outside. "Where to?"

"Well, now that you've met the others we can get you something to eat or so. Surely you must be hungry." He looked at his watch. "It's about lunchtime, anyway, so..."

Lucy hesitated. "Actually, I... I don't want to eat with... They'll all be there, won't they? I don't know if..." she started.

Armin immediately understood. "Okay, then we'll eat later. Let's just walk around for a while until the others have eaten. I can wait."

Lucy nodded again and followed Armin. "Who sleeps in Eren's room?" she asked after a few moments of silence. She had noticed that Armin had only spoken of _Eren's_ room.

"Nobody."

"What?"

"He sleeps alone in his room. It's an exception the Corporal made," Armin explained.

Lucy walked faster to catch up with the blond. "Why?" She felt a bit uneasy asking this question, afraid of what the answer would be.

Armin shrugged. "I don't know. It's what Eren wanted after all. Eren is more of a loner. Okay, he's got Mikasa and me, but he prefers to spend his time alone, mostly in his room or on the training grounds. He is also very nervous and short-tempered and can get quite aggressive at some times – maybe Levi thought it would be better for him to have a place to retreat to, so he could get himself some peace and quiet. So he gave Eren one of the three spare rooms for the superiors – the other ones are, of course, for him and Hanji... It's unfair, actually... They are a lot bigger than ours. Okay, ours are quite big as well, but..."

Armin paused to look at Lucy who had fallen behind and his eyes widened. "Lucy? Are you okay?" he asked, walking toward her.

Lucy had her arms wrapped tightly around her heavily shaking body. She took a few steps back from Armin who watched her worriedly. Somehow, Armin's words about Eren scared her. _Aggressive?_

She knew very well what it meant when a person was aggressive; she had seen and experienced it many times, especially when Frances and said woman's lover had been angry and vented their wrath on her. She was afraid of what would happen if she disobeyed Eren's order once more. Her knees suddenly gave in and she fell to the ground.

"LUCY!" Armin squatted down beside her and gently shook her. "Lucy?"

"He's... aggressive?" she repeated, keeping her voice close to a whisper. She sat there for a few moments until panic overwhelmed her. "I have to stay away from him! He will beat me if I disobey him! He will...!"

Armin's eyes widened. "What?! No! No, he won't beat you! I didn't mean it that way. I only meant that he sometimes gets angry over every little thing and starts yelling at people like he did with you or like he does with Mikasa. He's never beaten anyone before. Never. And he never would."

Once again, Lucy noticed that Armin was more than honest. She started to calm down a bit and managed to stand up, but not without his help.

Said boy stared at her for a while before he broke the silence. "You just implied that you mustn't disobey Eren – what did you mean by that?"

"He told me to stay away from him – and I must respect his order," Lucy replied in a monotone, almost robotic voice, without any passion and emotion.

"Respect his order...?" Armin repeated, but he decided to not further poke the matter. Instead, he watched as Lucy desperately tried to tie her hair with her shaking hands. "Do you need help?"

She made a few unsuccessful attempts until she finally gave in, defeatedly letting her arms drop to her side as Armin gently took the ribbons out of her hands, skillfully tying her hair into loose twintails.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

"You okay?" he asked worriedly, sighing in relief as Lucy nodded. "Listen, I know Eren is scary, but... he would never hurt anyone. I know him. So don't worry, okay? If you want me to I'll stay with you in case you want to talk to him. Okay?"

Lucy nodded again.

"Come on, it's a beautiful day! Let's walk in the park! I haven't shown you that yet, have I?" He smiled.

Lucy knew he was trying to distract her from her fear – and she was thankful for that.

* * *

"Shit, lost them again..." Eren griped.

He had enough and therefore decided to let it slip for now. Maybe he would meet Lucy later. He huffed and fell onto his bed, staring at the ceiling in deep thought.

_Man, that was a shock – seeing Levi half-naked... but he has a nice body, though. I'm almost jealous. So that's why he is so strong. All that muscles..._ He shook his head and his thoughts trailed to Lucy once again, causing him to frown sadly.

_Why? Why is she so afraid of me? It's not like I want to hurt her or something – but still, she..._ He bis his lip again and ran a hand through his dark brown locks. _Am I really that scary? I was so mean... I must have hurt her._

What was it that made Lucy so afraid of him? He had no choice but to find out himself. One thing was clear: He would have to prove Lucy that he meant no harm to her if he wanted her to trust him; it would not be easy, but he would not give up. Somehow, he cared for her. He had already developed somewhat of a personal interest in her and he really wanted to get to know her better. Not only that she intrigued him – she made him feel comfortable. He had noticed himself relaxing every time she was around, even though it was not obvious.

He had the feeling that he had to know everything about her. He somehow felt himself attracted to her. What was that feeling? He wasn't sure what it was – but he would not hesitate to try and find out. However, he would need some help with this. As long as Armin was around Lucy he wouldn't get a chance to talk to her. Mikasa, on the other hand, didn't like her very much – but she wanted Eren to be happy. He knew she would help him if he asked her to.

With a content smile, he rolled onto his side to close his eyes for a bit. He would eat later.

* * *

"Armin, it's okay. You don't have to wait for me. Go eat something."

Armin gave Lucy a worried expression. "No, I should stay with you."

Lucy gently placed a small, reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Go. Eat."

"But you should eat, too!"

"No, I'm fine. I can wait. Go."

"What will you do in the meantime?" Armin asked sceptically.

Before she could answer she was interrupted by someone else.

"Hey, Armin! Lucy!"

They turned around.

It was Jean. He shortly smiled at Lucy before his face turned serious again. "Levi's looking for you two. He already asked Eren if he saw you anywhere. I don't mean to ruin the mood, but damn, he looked pissed. Did you two do something to him?"

Lucy and Armin looked at each other frantically.

Armin jumped up from the bench, grabbing the tall brunet by his shoulders. "Don't tell him where we are! Say something like you couldn't find us, please!"

"Whoa, hold your horses. I'm not gonna tell him anything. What happened?" He curiously guided his eyes from Armin to Lucy and back again, but the two only stared back. "Not going to tell me, huh?" He made a disappointed face. "Okay, you don't have to – but I'm really dying to know."

"Maybe when the Corporal is calm again..." the two muttered in unison.

"Armin, go eat something. I'll fix this. I dragged you into this, so I'll be the one to set things right," Lucy replied determinedly.

"Are you going to be okay?"

Lucy nodded. "Now go."

And with that, Armin left with Jean in tow, toward the mess hall while Lucy made her way to Levi's office. However, when she reached the end of the hallway his office was located in she looked around rather confusedly. She had forgotten _which one_ of the last four doors was his office!

She knew one of the doors had a junk room filled with cleaning supplies behind it, another one was leading to Levi's room, the other to his office and one had Eren's room behind it. There was no one she could ask for help since everyone was in the mess hall now – or so she thought...

She stood in the dark hallway, guiding her dark brown eyes from one door to the other until she finally noticed the vibration on her chest again. The pendant was pulsating, the gem in its center emanating a bright and angry glow. She moved a trembling hand up to her chest and hid the pendant under the jacket, nervously looking around.

_He's close... But where?_

She couldn't feel exactly where the aura of Eren's presence was coming from, so she had no choice but to pick one of those doors, hoping it would be the right one. She knew at least that Levi's office was next to his room, so if she found his room she would find his office. She eavesdropped at every door, but she couldn't hear anything. She took a deep breath and yanked the first door open; she even forgot to knock. A big mistake...

She froze, her eyes growing wide at the sight before her: She was staring at a bare tan torso, slender and marginally toned, but still well-built. A pair of wide, seagreen eyes stared right back at her as a shirtless Eren looked at her in puzzlement and surprise.

Eren. Eren Jaeger. The person she had been trying to avoid all the time. The person who had given her the order to stay away. And she had failed to do so.

Eren finally caught himself and gave Lucy a smile as warm as the sun. "Oh, there you are," he said, standing up from the bed. "I've been looking for you, but you ran away from me all the time." He made a worried, apologetic face as if thinking he was the one who had done something wrong. _Here's my chance!_, he thought, completely oblivious to the fact that he still had no shirt on.

Lucy snapped out of her thoughts. She slowly backed away, throwing her hands up in defense, noticing how Eren was following her. "I'm sorry..." she whispered, trembling. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

She took one wrong step, stumbling backward over her own feet. She didn't have time to catch her fall and her head painfully crashed into the wall behind her.

"Lucy!" Eren shouted. Before he could react she quickly stood up.

"I'm okay! It's nothing!" she said quickly, almost shouting, trying to get away from Eren. She ran to the other end of the hallway, toward the stairs.

"Wait! Don't run away!" Eren prepared to follow her until he noticed he was still shirtless. But he quickly forgot about it as soon as he heard her scream.

Lucy suddenly felt dizzy; everything was spinning around her and she couldn't feel her legs anymore. She lost her balance and keeled over, painfully rolling downstairs and continuously banging her forehead against the steps' edges until her fall was brutally braked as she crashed into the wall with her back first, crashing her head onto the fround. She screamed in pain and confusion and everything almost went black, but she quickly regained her composure.

She was now lying upside down with her legs comically twisted above her head, her back partly pressed against the wall, partly against the ground. _How did I even get into this strange position?_, she wondered, shortly reconstructing the fall. She slowly rolled onto her side and brought herself into a sitting position, rubbing her throbbing head. She was still feeling dizzy, but this time it was much worse.

"Lucy!" Eren was standing on top of the stairs, anxiously watching her. "Are you okay?!"

Her head jerked up to look at Eren who was already coming toward her. Startled, she fell back on her ass and threw her hands up in defense, trying to keep him away. "I'm fine! It's nothing! I'm okay!"

Eren noticed her uneasiness and slowed down a bit – but he never stopped until he was right in front of her. He carefully squatted down beside her. "Are you hurt?" he asked softly.

She slightly shuffled away from him. "I'm fine, really!" She watched as Eren carefully reached out for her. "PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" She ducked and protectively held her arms above her head, trembling heavily. "I'm sorry for disobeying you! Please don't hurt me!"

Eren flinched and withdrew his outstretched hand. His eyes widened. After a few moments, he gave her a warm, but rather sad smile. "Why do you think I would want to hurt you? I want to help you, not hurt you. Here, let me take a look at your head."

He carefully reached out for her again, causing her to shake her head vigorously.

"It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you. Please trust me." He gently removed her arms, so he could examine her sore head.

Lucy's eyes widened. _What's going on?_ Her shoulders sagged and she was too busy with puzzling over the situation to react. However, she flinched when his hand gently stroked the back of her head. _What's happening? He's so... gentle..._

"It hurts, doesn't it? Well, it _should_ hurt, alright," he mumbled, slightly pouting.

Lucy struggled to stand up, but her dizziness did a good job at preventing her from keeping herself steady and she tumbled backward into Eren's strong arms, leaning against his exposed chest.

"Careful," he mumbled softly. "I'll help you." He wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her upright and lead her over to the steps to let her sit.

He kneeled before her and ran a hand though her chin-long bangs, gently brushing them out of her face to reveal a large scratch on the left side of her forehead. He scowled.

"We should take care of you. Wait here, I'm getting my shirt. Don't go on your own." He ran upstairs, quickly pulling his shirt over his head, but when he returned the tiny angel was gone. _Damn! I should have known it..._

* * *

Lucy tumbled around helplessly, her senses severely limited due to her dizziness. _Please don't tell me it's a concussion!_, she begged mentally. At least she successfully found her way outside, stumbling right into Armin's arms who had just returned from the mess hall.

"Lucy?! What happened?! Are you okay?!" His voice cracked due to his anxiety. His eyes widened in understanding. "You met Eren... What happened?" he asked again, this time more calmly.

"I'm okay... It's nothing..." she managed to say.

"No, you're clearly not! Let's sit you down. I knew I should have stayed with you!" He lead her over to one of the benches. "And now tell me what happened."

* * *

Eren finally made his way to the mess hall to eat something. He needed to talk to Mikasa. He grabbed a plate and some food and walked to her.

"Mikasa!" he called, waving.

The ravenette looked up and a small smile was forming on her lips before her face fell into a sad expression again. She shifted, seemingly feeling uneasy as Eren sat next to her.

Eren understood. "Listen, I'm sorry for earlier. I just hate it when you do that. I didn't mean to hurt you. Neither physically nor mentally. I'm sorry." He smiled at her, watching her as she did the same, even though a bit unsure. "I simply can't stand your protective behavior. I know I'm your family, but you don't have to always follow or watch over me. I can look after myself."

Mikasa made a sad face again.

Eren frowned. "Don't always push me so hard – you know how quickly I can loose my temper and hurt people I don't want to hurt at all. I knew something like that would happen one day. And you really should be nicer to Lucy. She didn't do anything wrong," he added.

The ravenette looked down. "I'm sorry..."

His gaze softened again. "It's okay. But why are you so mean toward her, anyway?"

"I don't trust her."

"And she doesn't trust us because she thinks we want to hurt her. She is just as scared of us all as we mistrust her. Listen, she saved Armin's and my life out there. If she hadn't jumped in the Titans could have attacked us as well. Please, Mikasa, give her a chance. She isn't as bad as you think. You should have seen her just now – she ran away from me again. She's too scared of me as to do anything to hurt me. And I don't think she wants to, either. I don't think she wants to hurt _anyone_."

Eren gave Mikasa an hopeful expression, watching as she moved her red scarf over her mouth, just like she always did when she was shy, thoughtful or undetermined. "Do it for me. Give her a chance."

A few moments passed until she finally nodded. "Okay."

Eren smiled widely at her. "Thank you, Mikasa. Listen, I need your help."

The ravenette looked at him, hopefully. "What can I do?"

"Lucy is scared of me and I want to show her that she doesn't have to be. Problem is, as long as Armin is around her I won't get a chance to talk to her – he's keeping her away from me. I think I saw them in the courtyard. Distract Armin – draw him and his attention away from Lucy, so I can talk to her," Eren instructed. "Okay?"

Mikasa nodded. "Okay. I'll think of something."

"Thank you, Mikasa." He squeezed her shoulder thankfully before he finally turned to his food. "We should hurry up so we won't miss them." And with that, he shoved the food in his mouth as fast as he could.

_**A/N: Well, sorry, but I really didn't want to leave this chapter out where she finally makes some contact with the others, but it would have been too long, so I had to split it in three parts – I hope that's okay anyway. As always, read, fav, review!**_


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